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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
I ^d 6 /f JfclJL t\ 

! UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.! 




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#littstrete£ of €rm, 

OR 

POEMS 

LYRICAL, PASTORAL, AND DESCRIPTIVE. 

BY 

MATTHEW WELD HARTSTONGE, Esq. 



" Ilia canenda mihi est, Utinam modo dicere postern 



" Carmina digna!" Ovid. 



EDINBURGH: 

Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. 

FOR JOHN BALLANTYNE AND CO. EDINBURGH! 

LONGMAN AND CO. LONDON ; 

AND J. CUMMING, AND WU N. MAHON, DUBLIN. 

1812. 



.0 



TO 

WALTER SCOTT, Esg. 



1 o thee shall Erin's lay belong, 
Inspired by raptures of thine own ; 
Be thine my introductive song, 
Though from a bard to fame unknown. 
Deign yet in Yarrow's bow'r to dwell, 
Awake the bard's intrepid lyre ; 
Pour forth thy manly war-note's swell, 
A patriot's and a poet's fire ! 
Thus, while on Lomond's height you roam, 
Or range on Katrine's lonely strand, 
Be thine each bright reward at home, 
The friend, the pride of Scotia's land ! 

Yet once again thy battle-trump resume ! 
To deeds of glory arm the martial throng ; 
Awake, call forth the valiant from the tomb, 
With all thy magic force and fire of song ! 

Matthew Weld Hartstonge. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE* 
On landing at Penrose Ivylun, including the Tale of 

Hoel and Kozelle 3 

Lines written at the Lake of Killarney 23 

I love a grey October Morn ! - 27 

The Sun hath sunk in Thetis' Bed 30 

Autumn, or Reflexions on Human Life 32 

Written at the Rocks of Kilcarrick, County of Carlow, 

Ireland 36 

Lines written at an Inn ^ . . . 41 

Stanzas on seeing a Cock-fight within the Walls of the 
ruined Castle of Carlow, Province of Leinster, 

Ireland 43 

The Trumpet and Church-bell 4T 

A Rural Scene, Ireland 53 

On standing before the Monument of the great and ex* 
alted Philanthropist, John Howard, in St Paul's 

Cathedral 5T 

Why droops my Love, Maria fair ? 59 

Written on the Summit of Mount Leinster, Ireland .... 61 

Come, wilt thou roam with me the Lawn ? 65 

On seeing the celebrated Painting of the Death of Ge- 
neral Wolfe, by Benjamin West, Esq. at his House 
in Newman Street 67 



V1 CONTENTS. 

™. « «. PAGE. 

The Bower of Laura , m 

Stanzas to Genius 



72 

Pastoral Elegiac » 6 

Britannia to War, since thy Trident is hurl'd i ' * 7T 

Carrol of Coleraine, a Romantic Tale 79 

To the Memory of Lieutenant Standish Weld, who fell 
storming the Fort of Luft, in Persia, near the Gulph 

of Bassora o~ 

Stanzas written during Indisposition 89 

On my Laura fond Smiles used to Dwell, a Pastoral 

s °ng 91 

A Monumental Inscription 92 

Sage Conclusions p~ 

Anacreontic—Euterpe, come my Song inspire * 95 

Can a cruel Tyrant's Arm, a Song . . [[['[ 9T 

Pastoral Song, From Home in sad Exile I stray . \\ . 98 

On the Death of the Right Hon. Charles James Fox 100 

On seeing his Grave . Q . 

Written on the Banks of the Laune, Killarney, County 

of Kerry, Ireland 10 g 

Anacreontic— Bacchus, to thee doth Mirth belong! ! ! 1 1 1 

Morning " U3 

Prologue to a Tragedy ......!! [ 1 15 

On the Death of a beloved Friend .*..' {}S 

Written at Douglas, Isle of Man 12 o 

ToHealth! "' 122 

Mock-Heroic Invocation to Mercury, the God of Gain 123 

The Widow'd Mother 128 

Welcome, Rosy Morn! [ 134 

Lines on the late George Washington, General in Chief," 

and President of the United States of America . . 1 35 

The Stag-Hunt. Scene, Killarney I39 

Song on seeing a Fairy Ring 143 



CONTENTS. mi 

PAGE. 
Preference of a Country Life, written in Winter .... 145 

Wallace of Renfrew, a Historical Ballad 148 

William and Susan, a Romantic Ballad 151 

Notes to the Minstrelsy • • . . 161 



MINSTRELSY OF ERIN. 



ON LANDING AT 

PENROSE IVYLUN, 1 ISLE OF ANGLESEA, 

NORTH WALESJ 

INCLUDING 
THE TALE OF HOEL AND ROZELLE. 



XVomantic Mona, rocky isle,* 
Where Nature, with a step-dame's smile, 
Scarce sheds a summer ray ! 5 



1 The very dangerous little creek of Penrose Iyylun is 
situated to the north-east, and about three miles distant 
from Holyhead. It is here spelt as it is usually pronoun- 
ced. The orthography I believe to be Penchrose Iflywn; 
the letter F sounding in the Welsh similar to the letter V 
in the English language. Some pronounce it Pentis Avild. 

z This island is noticed by Caesar in his Commentaries 
De Bello Gallico, L. V. xiiu " In hoc medio cursu est insula 
qua appellator Mona," 

3 Mona is called, in the language of the country, Ynys 
Dowyll, the Dark Island. See notes to Madoc, a poem by 
Robert Southey, p. 45$. 



4? MINSTRELSY 

Hail yet thy bold and classic shore, 
Renowned seat of bards of yore, 
And many a minstrel grey ! 

II. 

Here erst beneath the spreading oak, 
Their prophecies the Druids spoke ; 

That stone their holy shrine. 
They held blest converse with the sky, 
Saw sights conceal'd from mortal eye ; 
And from their temple, nature's grove, 
Sung glory to their God above, 

And utter'd truths divine. 

III. 

But long these mystic tones have fled, 
And low is laid each patriot head ! 
The harp no more, with friendly call, 
Invites the stranger to the hall 

Of Cambria's social shore. 
These days of triumph long are past, 
And mourns the isle, with gloom o'ercast, 

Her regal tow'rs no more !* 

4 " Her regal tow'rs no more !"— The palace of Aberfraw* 



OP ERIN. 

Here Cambrians made a noble stand, 
Contending for their native land, 

And burst the Roman yoke ; 
O'erthrew the Saxons, quell'd the Danes, 
Fair freedom crown'd their happy plains, 

When hostile chains were broke. 

V. 
No trace remains of grandeur past, 
Thy oaks have bow'd beneath the blast ; 

Each Druid-relique razed. 
No Gothic structure here is shewn, 
Save the rude massive altar-stone, 

By rustic wonder praised ! 

VI. 

No more with oaken cincture prest, 
Nor in his snow-white raiment drest, 



of which barely a vestige now remains, was, in A. D. 873> 
the palace and the seat of the government of the kings of 
North Wales. 



6 MINSTRELSY 

While chains of gold his neck surround, 
His arms with golden bracelets bound, 

Shall Pontiff-Druid * come : 
No voice, no patriot wish prevail, 
Ev'n beauty's winning smile shall fail, 

To call him from the tomb ! 

VII. 

These days are past, nor grieve we thence ; 
Truths, since reveal'd, expand the sense 

Of mortals here below. 
Religion's mild redeeming ray 
Illumes sojourners on their way, 

And holy themes can shew ; 



* The Druids had one chief, or Arch-Druid, in every na- 
tion, who acted as High Priest, or Pontifex Maximus.— 
Vide Caesar's Commentaries de Bello Gallico, L. 6. c. 13.— 
The residence of the Arch-Druid of Britain was in the isle 
of Anglesea.— -See Rowland's Mona Antiqua, p. 83.— And 
for a more minute detail of the religion, learning, laws, &c. 
of the Druids, see the " History of Druidism," in Dr Hen- 
ry's History of England, contained in chap. 2. vol. I. p. 89. 
—See also Toland's History of the Druids. 



OF ERIN. 

From earth to Heaven directs the road, 
And leads unto the blest abode, 
Where shines eternal day. 

VIII. 

Hail, Mona ! though thy bards are fled, 
And all thy rev'rend Druids dead, 

Thy former greatness past ! 
Hail, land beloved in poet's song, 
While rolls Menai 6 his tide along, 

Thy fame shall ever last ! 

IX. 

The waves that break on GwynedV shore, 

Returning with the tide, 
Are heard by sullen Penman-maur, 

And wake cold Snowden's side, 
Till distance lulls the roar ; 
While the silvery moon-light sheen, 
Sleeping on midnight lake is seen 

Some cavern'd rock beside. 



6 The Straits of Menai. 
' Gwyned, u e. North Wal s. 



8 MINSTRELSY 

X. 

How vain these stormy cliffs to brave, 
Whose frowning brows o'erhang the wave, 

And awe the stranger eye ! 
What plaintive strains arrest mine ear, 
Sure doleful notes of woe I hear, 

Of wretch condemn'd to die ! 

XL 

Behold ! from yon tremendous surge, 
A more than earthly form emerge, 
While viewless harps breathe solemn dirge, 

From azure depths below ! 
Prophetic, as from wizard caves, 
Re-echoing o'er caerulean waves, 

Is heard the voice of woe ! 

XII. 

He comes, he comes, in snow-white vest, 
Beneath the weight of years opprest, 

A bard, or troubadour ! 
His brow entwined with oaken band, 
His harp resounds o'er Cambria's strand, 

'Tis some magician sure ! 



OP ERIN. 

XIII. 

While rising from the buoyant main, 
He tunes a melancholy strain; 
His boding voice is heard meanwhile, 
To warn you from this fatal isle, 

Where howling tempests roar. 
With anguish deep he smites his breast, 
In mournful cadence then exprest, 

" Avoid his stormy shore ! 

XIV. 

" Though here luxuriant valleys smile, 
And rocks romantic fence the isle, 
Destruction still your crew awaits ; 
Rash stranger, fly these stormy straights," 

Exclaims the hoary bard ! 
" For many a hapless bark here lost, 
Resounding death-shrieks fright the coast— 
My warning, oh regard ! 

Shun the portentous shore ! 
Trust not the calm's deceitful smile, 
But shun the horrors of this isle, 

Before the tempest roar ! 



10 MINSTRELSY 

XV. 

" My war-toned harp in days of old, 
To fight has roused each baron bold, 
And oft beguiled the midnight hour, 
While strains of love, in lady's bow'r, 

Could the blithe feast prolong."-— 
To yonder rock the bard retires, 
He tunes his voice and strikes the wires — 
Hark ! wild and mournful measures flow, 
While warbling forth a tale of woe, 

Resounds the minstrel-song. 

XVI. 

HOEL AND ROZELLE : A TALE. 

Full long has closed the lofty day, 
W'hen Gwyned held imperial sway. 
Two lovers of that happy time, 
The bard would now extol in rhyme, 

And of their virtues tell. 
The gallant youth was Hoel named, 
Rozelle, the maid, for beauty framed, 

For worth was famed as well. 



OF ERIN. 11 

XVII. 

Hoel, the pride of Cambrian swains ; 
Rozelle, the boast of Erin's plains, 

Though born of Welch degree. 
Pledged was their faith, from early youth, 
He knew her constancy and truth, 
And long'd his bride to see. 

XVIII. 
To meet her mother's race beloved, 

On Mona's darkling shore, 
From Erin's coast, Rozelle removed, 

Her absence all deplore. 
The bark careering mounts the tide, 
As LifFey's streams to ocean glide. 
Sailors exalt the spreading sail, 
The canvas swelling in the gale, 

Light favouring breezes blow : 
While Erin's banners raised on high, 
All proudly streaming to the sky, 

In splendid blazon shew. 



12 MINSTRELSY 

Thence shone the harp, on field of green, 
Gold, strung with argent chords between ; 
The radiate crown surmounted seen, 
Sent far its golden glow. 

XIX. 

The galley's oars impetuous sweep 
With rapid course the dark-blue deep : 
Now oft was heard the faint " adieu !" 

And oft the fond « farewell !" 
As less'ning sunk the land to view, 

Where friendship loves to dwell. 
Oh, Erin ! much loved natal spot. 

Adored from infant youth ; 
Thou ne'er by me shalt be forgot, 

Thy virtue, valour, truth ! 
Erin ! on thy loved plain to die, 
Where brave and honour'd patriots lie, 

Grant Heaven it be my lot ! 
Could I from other regions see, 
(When I reluctant part from thee,) 

Or hear some heavenly voice 
Proclaim, dear Country, thou wert free, 

My spirit should rejoice ! 



OF ERIN. 13 

XX. 

Portentous see yon gath'ring cloud, 
The wide horizon's bounds enshroud, 

Precursor of dire storms : 
The proud wave rears his heightened crest, 
Pale horror freezes every breast, 

And darkness day deforms. 

Now the fierce angry blast arose, 
And the firm main-top-mast o'erthrows, 
Which, harshly snapping, bursts in twain, 
And, crashing in the roaring main, 

Dismays the silent crew. 
Each of his home despairing thinks, 
Inward the heart-faU'n spirit shrinks, 

No rescuing hand in view. 

XXL 

Hoel, as oft returned the tide, 
Wander'd wild Penrose* creek beside, 
In hopes a sail to see ; 



14 MINSTRELSY 

And, musing on the ocean's roar, 
Beheld the billows roll to shore, 

With fond expectancy ; 
Assured Rozelle, green Erin's boast, 
Would soon approach the Cambrian coast, 

Dear seat of ancestry ! 

And lo ! a maid of lovely form, 
Vainly contending with the storm, 

All breathless is the fair ; 
Grasping a plank with desp'rate hand, 
Haply might waft her to the land, 

But ah 'tis all despair ! 
To rescue from a wat'ry grave, 
See Hoel plunge, her life to save ; 

Love only thus could dare ! 

That morn he stood, while raged the gale, 
Oh ! listen to my mournful tale ! 
While waved the streaming flag to view, 
Green Erin's standard well he knew, 
As silently he gazed. 
10 



OF ERIN. 15 

What can escape a lover's eye ? 
When the expected fair is nigh, 
Exposed minutest objects lie, 
And to the sight are raised ! 

XXII. 

A fisher's bark on that same day, 
Perchance arrived in Penrose bay, 

And happily I ween. 
<c Behold yon crew the tempests drives, 
Haste, let us save their valued lives !"— 

He said ; and Hoel's seen 
Promptly to wing the speedy oar, 
Which wafts the rapid bark from shore, 

Over the salt wave green. 
Th* affrighted boatmen wav'ring stand ; 
Impetuous darts the bark from land, 

In sudden flight so keen : 
Like arrow from the cross-bow sent, 
Flying the hasty galley went, 

The broken waves between. 



16 MINSTRELSY 

XXIII. 

" Ah, generous youth !" the boatmen cried, 
How nobly has he stemm'd the tide, 

Intrepid for the fair !" 
Ill could the bard the feelings tell 
Which warm'd the breast of bright Rozelle, 

Now rescued from despair 1 

ROZELLE. 

a Art thou return'd ? preserver, friend ! 
On thee may ev'ry bliss attend, 

Protection from above ! 
Long, long adored, could I impart 
The feelings of a grateful heart, 

My first, my only love ! 

HOEL. 

Fond love ! call not thy influence weak, 
When eyes like thine persuasion speak, 

I look and I obey ! 
On beauty's smile shall influence wait, 
Oh, to be thine, permitted fate, 



OF ERIN. 17 

No other wish Pd seek but this, 
Which should ensure me lasting bliss, 
Never from thee to stray !" 

XXV. 

ROZELLE. 

" 'Tis thine, my love, oh, joy to meet, 
A rescued victim thee will greet 1 
My Hoel, never more we'll part, 
Rozelle is thine, accept her heart, 
Her hand, herself, are thine !" 

HOEL. 

u Rejoiced this long-sought bliss I take, 
And thee, oh never, shall forsake ! 
Through life to thee I'll constant prove, 
As firm this arm hath snatch'd my love 
From the destructive brine !" 

XXVI. 

Now rescued in a fisher's skiff, 

They nigh had reach'd wild Penrose cliff— 



Iff MINSTRELSY 

Reluctant yet, the bard must tell 
The mournfull fate which them befell 

On that devoted day ! 
High waves the struggling bark overwhelm, 
No more the pilot guides the helm, 

The rudder borne away. 
In vain they ply'd the struggling oar, 
The bark is shiver'd on the shore ! 
In death's convulsive grasp they lie, 
Living embraced, embraced they die, 

Their folded arms around. 
A stately elm I thus have seen, 
The monarch of the sylvan green, 

Laid level with the ground, 
Whose stem with woodbine tendrils bound, 
Their fondest circling clasps around, 
Flung prostrate bf the lightning-flash, 
Groaning the earth, beneath the crash, 

And the long-pealing thunder-sound. 
Shrieks borne along the dismal gale, 
The death-devoted crew bewail, 

Who sunk in Penrose bay : 
'Twas here the generous Hoel died, 
Engulph'd in Cambria's wrathful tide* 

On that disastrous day. 



OF ERIN. 19 

XXVIL 

Bright sparkling flame emits the tomb, 
Dread beacon of the seaman's doom, 

To fright him from this coast; 
Warning to shun the fatal blow, 
Which laid the youthful lovers low, 

Their country's pride and boast ! — 
" Oh virtuous, doom'd an early grave, 
The victims of the ruthless wave !" 

(Thus sculptured numbers say ) 
The yawning tomb, from hearse of lead, 
Yields up again the buried dead, 

Each year on that dread day. 
While Hoel fondly clasps the fair, 
Vanish their forms in misty air, 

Or 'neath the shrine below. 
In peals of thunder shuts the tomb, 
As loud is heard the lover's doom, 

In deepest notes of woe. 
" Oh, early destined for the sky, 
True virtuous love can never die, 

But to the heavens shall soar !" 
These awe-impressive scenes appear 



20 MINSTRELSY 

Once in each sad revolving year, 

Till time shall be no more ! 
All on the day that Hoel brave 
Perish'd beneath a wat'ry grave, 
Lamented, lost, admired ! 

Thus immature in beauty fell 
The youthful pair my numbers tell, 
More virtuous ne'er expired ! 

XXVIII. 

The tale concluded, strains we hear, 
As when some hoary prophet-seer, 
Or anthem's peal arrests the ear. 
Lo ! stranger, in yon cavern'd grot, 
You still may trace the burial spot 

Of Hoel and Rozelle. 
11 Oh, virtuous, doomed an early grave, 
The victims of the ruthless wave, M 

Their sculptured urns thus telL 

XXIX. 

Anxious to save the lives of men, 
When ships near Penrose-cliff I ken, 
From the blue deep I rise ; 



OF ERIN. 21 

While plaintive chords the death shall tell, 
Of Hoel and beloved Rozelle, 
My warning voice replies, 

XXX. 

Here sounds of mournful note ensued, 
Sounds, none with feeling hearts endued, 

Could without pity hear. 
He thus resumes the doleful strain ; 
u List, ere beneath the roaring main, 

Your bard shall disappear. 
Respect the instructive voice of age, 
Forewarn'd avoid the ocean's rage ; 
The fate which my sad verses tell 
O'ertook brave Hoel and Rozelle." 

XXXI. 

The bard is gone, the song is o'er, 

And silent now the lyre ; 
The wearied sea-fowl fly to shore, 

And glad to rest retire : 
While in bright wave the sun behold^ 
In ruby-studded car of gold, 

With radiant blaze expire ! 



£2 MINSTRELSY 

But though the glorious orb hath sped, 
Although the lovers both are dead, — 
Virtue, surmounting space and time, 
Records their worth in minstrel-rhyme, 
Where lives their love once more ! 



OT ERIN. 23 



LINES 

WRITTEN AT TURK-LAKE, 9 KILLARNEY, COUNTY OF 
KERRY, IRELAND. 



Enrapturing scene ! how romantic each view ! 
These caverns, * mysterious, thy charms ever new ; 



9 The middle lake, called Turk-lake, from its being placed 
at the base of Turk -mountain* 

1 There is something awfully impressive in the conforma- 
tion of the shores of the middle (or Turk) lake, particularly 
at the northern range, which comprehends the beautiful pe- 
ninsula of Mucross. The limestone rocks, presenting their 
variegated aspect, as if hoary from the incursions of time and 
seasons, project on the verge of the lake, and are excavated 
at their base, from the attrition of the waters, into various 
fantastic forms, chiefly resembling ancient English (or Gothic) 
arches, supported by natural columns, curiously wrought, 
of similar form to those seen in the aisles of our cathedrals, 
extending in vast continuity, and the solemn greyish tint of 
the rocks relieved by the resplendent verdure with which the 
liberality of nature has romantically adorned their summits, 
01 



24 MINSTRELSY 

Yon snow-mantled peaks, and thy wild spreading 

woods, 
With dark glens, and green islands, in soft-bosornd 

floods. 
Fair realm of enchantment, where nature's proud 

throne 
She exalted, and stamp'd ev'ry spot as her own ; 
In the precipice tall, the green arbutus shade, 
Each mountain and valley her charms have displayed. 
How towering thy reeks 3 in defiance of time, 
Thy coasts so luxuriant, thy mountains sublime ! 



from whence spring forth, from the solid rock, arbutus, oak, 
mountain-ash, yew, holly, hazel, lauru-stinus, heaths, lichens, 
bog-myrtle, wild flowers, &c. spreading luxuriant odours 
around, while the verdant groves gracefully wave their vari- 
ed foliage over the curling waters. 

a " Magillicuddy's reeks are computed to be three thou- 
u sand four hundred and eighteen feet in height, and suppo- 
iC sed to be the most lofty mountains in Ireland."— Weld's 
Illustrations of the Scenery of Killarney, &c. 

The lake of Killarney is otherwise called Lough-lane, or 

Loch-lean, from its being surrounded by high mountains. 

Encyclopedia JBritannica. Dublin edit. 1792, vol. IX. p. 459. 

It seems, however, probably, to have been so called from 
the river Laune, or Lane, which is the only outlet of the lake 
(See note on poem, ft written at the lakes of Killarney.") By 
this name the lakes were anciently distinguished, as appears 



OP ERIN. 25 

Oh, ever unchanged may thy beauties remain, 
And ever spring verdant the banks of Loch-lane ! 
How inspiring the sound of the joy-pealing horn, 
When deep echo awakens the breath of the morn ! 
To thy scenes soft enchantment must ever belong, 
While mem'ry's fond image illumines my song. 

As when iEolus breathes on his harp the soft sigh, 
Symphonious the cadences swell through the sky ; 
On zephyr's calm bosom they tranquilly float, 
Modulation each tone, and vibration each note ; 
Delighted each listener soft harmony fills, 
Which echo repeats from her cave in thy hills. 
But when the dread tempest tremendously roars, 
How frightful thy waters and billowy shores ! 
Not the sea in commotion, while wildly it raves, 
Can equal the fury and force of thy waves ; 



from the edition of Sir James Ware's Antiquities of Ireland, 
edited by Walter Harris, Esq. where this unrivalled lake is 
likewise called " Loch-lein, or Lough-lane." — Vide Ware's 
Antiquities of Ireland , p, 227. 

Lein (or lane) signifies, in the Irish language, learning. The 
island of Innisfallen, seated in the lower (and largest) lake, was 
undoubtedly (as appears from its records) at a very early pe- 
riod, the seat of piety and learning; and hence, perhaps, a 
priori^ the source of the names of both lakes and river. 



26 MINSTRELSY 

The tempest still rages ; but, scorning its force. 
From yon rock mounts the eagle his heavenward 

course. 
Lo ! sullenly tow'ring, stupendous his form, 
He spreads his broad pinions, rejoicing in storm. 
Now hark ! the loud thundering cannon's, deep roar, 
Burst round the high rock, the steep islet and shore ; 
t The mountains and hollow dark caverns rebound 
Again, and again, the rebellowing sound. 

Here the horn and the viol melodious combine, 
Once more we hear, joyous, this concert divine : 
How sweet on the lake, and how varied the tone ! 
But, ah, how regretted, when harmony's flown J 

Henceforward, wherever Pm destin'd to rove 
With transport I'll dwell on each lake and each grove. 



OF ERIN* 27 



I LOVE A GREY OCTOBER MORN! 

WRITTEN NEAR THE CITY OF DUBLIN, 



X love a grey October morn, 
When sounds the hunter's cheerful horn; 
When the staunch hounds with hollow cry, 
Swift o'er the fields of stubble fly ; 
While busy rooks, at break of day, 
Desert their nests in quest of prey. 3 — . 
Ah i now the equinoctial breeze 
Moans amid sighs of rustling trees, 
'Tis now the startled wood- quest roves, 
And cooing mourns his leafless groves, 
Some lonely leaves a while delay, 
Then fall beneath the wand'rer's way. — 



3 The rooks begin to build in March $ in October they 
repair their nests. 



28 MINSTRELSY 

The gloomy bittern* now is seen, 
Stalking the waving sedge between. 
The Alba* skims the silv'ry lake, 
The sportsman climbs the thorny brake ; 
The goldfinch chaunts a parting song, 
The hawthorn's berried boughs among. 
Observe the plaintive plover sail, 
Upborne on equinoctial gale; 
How soft yon mountain's distant view, 
Dim-veil'd in shadowy purple hue ; 
And sweet the farmer's tuneful song, 
As blithe he drives his team along. 
Well pleased his cottage smoke he views, 
His way as onward he pursues ! 
The redbreast thrills his matin lay, 
Most sweetly warbling all the day. 



4 The stellaris, or bittern. In the reign of Henry VIII. 
authors mention it was held in much esteem at table, and 
valued at one shilling ! They add, its flesh has much the fla- 
vour of a hare, and nothing of the fishiness of the heron. 
The generic name is Ardea. 

5 The Alba, or white wagtail, frequents the banks of 
ponds and small streams, and frequently, like the swallow, 
wantons on the eddying pool, seizing the winged insect as it 
floats on the current. 



OF ERIN. 29 

The sparrow, on some lonely shed, 
Bewails his summer pastime fled ; 
Though summer's glowing charms I scorn, 
Yet love a ejrey October morn : 
For then will Contemplation rove, 
(Though cold the sky, and leafless grove,) 
Of nature's charms still fondly teli, 
And on the scene with rapture dwell. 



SO MINSTRELSY 



THE 



SUN HATH SUNK IN THETIS' BED. 



The sun hath sunk in Thetis' bed, 

The western sky is tinged with red ; 

Dim solemn twilight shades the plain, 

While homeward hies each wearied swain ; 

For these the thrifty dames prepare, 

With them the social meal to share. 

Ah, cheerful is the peasant's cot, 

Content awaits the peasant's lot ! 

He still can claim calm peace and health, 

And, rich in these, despises wealth :— 

The circling rooks, in homeward flight, 

Loud chatt'ring on their nests alight, 

As they would chide the tardy night. 

The lowing herds returning home, 

With joy approach the straw-crown'd dome. 



OF ERIN. SI 

The bird of night resumes his rounds, 
His drowsy horn the beetle sounds. 
How slowly creaks the laden team, 
O'er village road, or pebbled stream ! 
Ths hamlet mastiff bays aloud, 
As Cynthia beams above the cloud. 

Oft let the muse, at ev'ning hour, 
Late ponder in the woodbine bow'r ; 
Beneath broad oak, or chesnut tall, 
Near some deep murmuring waterfall ; 
Or mid the gloomy shaded grove 
Revolve the theme of hapless love. — 
Where yonder rock frowns o'er the main, 
I'll dwell on friendship's sacred strain. 
How many on thy waters roam, 
Far distant from their pleasant home ! 
While thus I think, deep sighs I'll heave, 
And waft them o'er the distant wave : 
In health, O ! heav'n, dear friends restore, 
To kindred and their native shore ! 
Let them, war's dreadful carnage past, 
Regain tbeir peaceful home at last. 



32 MINSTRELSY 

AUTUMN, 

OR REFLECTIONS ON HUMAN LIFE. 



Vitae frurama brcvis spem nos vetat inchoare longam. 

Hor. O. IV. L. 1. 
Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus. 

Via. Geor. L. 1. 



Luxuriant Summer's season past, 
Howls the loud bleak autumnal blast : 
The foaming waves, high lifted, roar, 
And frequent strike th* indented shore. 
The sun, from stormy Libra's way, 
Gleams forth a wat'ry cheerless ray. 
No more the days protract their light, 
But rival now in space the night. 
Fast fall the leaves, slow pace the hours, 
Chill cold attends on frequent show'rs. 
The harvest past, safe stored the grain, 
Fleet harriers course the stubbled plain ; 



Of ERIN. 33 

The sons of jocund sport appear, 
And join the chase in swift career. 
Ah, little dream those thoughtless souls, 
While youth's fleet season onward rolls, 
Their summer too will soon pass o'er, 
And man's pursuits shall be no more ! 

Hail, life's pure spring, untainted truth ; 

Hail, early worth, ingenuous youth ! 

Unmoved by care, unknown to sorrow, 

Hail, season reckless of to-morrow ! 

While innocence each hour employs, 
With smiling hope and harmless joys ; 
Like some fleet roe, or playful fawn, 
Youth bounds o'er nature's verdant lawn ; 
Serene his life, of happiest peace, 
Unstain'd by vice, mankind's disgrace ; 
The guilty pang, the conscious sigh, — 
Prepared alike to live or die. 
Soon, soon these blissful dreams are o'er, 
And fled these joys, life charms no more ! 

Manhood arrives, health's rosy day, 
When summer flow'rs each path array, 



34 MINSTRELSY 

And reason's calm bright beams appear, 
With social worth and virtue dear; 
But rapid glides this transient scene,. 
Nature throws off her robe of green. 1 
Comes autumn in sear foliage clad, 
Dull, gloomy, frigid, sluggish, sad : 
Emblem of life's fleet passing span, 
A warning sage to short-lived man. 
The falling leaves, with murm'ring sigh, 
Instruct thee, man, thou too shalt die I 
Not long thy days of brightness last, 
Till night's dark shades the scene o'ercast, 
And all terrestrial joy is past ! 

With hoary mists see winter crown'd, 
Scatt'ring his chilling frosts around 1 
Hear the denouncing blast he blows, 
Impetuous, see, the torrent flows, 
While swift descend benumbing snows ! 
Snapt friendship's bonds and ties of love, 
The soul aspires to bliss above. 



1 " But chiefly thou, gay green, 

Thou smiling nature's universal robe." 

Thomson's Season** 



OF ERIN. 35 

Extinct the spark of heav'nly flame, 
That once illumed the vital frame. 

As gleams some distant high-peak'd hill, 
The sun's faint glories ling'ring still, 
That vanish with the parting ray, 
So glides the term of man's decay, 
An unrecorded autumn day ! 



S<5 MINSTRELSY 



LINES 

WRITTEN AT THE ROCKS OF KILCARRICK, 1 COUNTY OF 
CARLOW, IRELAND, 



Kilcarrick, isolafed vale ! 
Sheltered from the boisterous gale ; 
Romantic, fair, enchanting spot ! 
Oh, never be thy charms forgot ! 
Delighted here, the eye may dwell 
On hill, or dale, on rock, or dell, 
Or hoary moss-capp'd pinnacle. 



a The rocks of Scalp-seskin, which are, in fact, a con- 
tinuation of Kilcarrick rocks, are extremely wild, and still 
more picturesque in themselves than the latter, though not 
comprehending so extensive a view ; they are in every 
point worthy of observation : they are in the neighbour- 
hood of Ballymoon-castle, about four miles distant from 
Leighlin«bridge. 



OF ERIN. 37 

Behold at distance, grand and wide, 
Where Barrow rolls his pond'rous tide. 
Majestic Leinster 3 meets the skies, 
Here Blackstairs' 4 azure heights arise ; 
While there the grey-clad mountain 5 lies. 
On sullen wing the falcon glides, 
On rocky steep the goat abides ; 
On heathy couch reclines the hare, 
Securely keeps the fox his lair, — 
While, in aerial regions free, 
The sky-lark hymns his minstrelsy. 

No martial sound of trump, or drum, 
To silence here the wild-bee's hum : 



3 The mountain called Mount-Leinster is partly in the 
county of Carlow, the minor part in the county of Wex- 
ford ; in the former it fronts the south, in the latter the 
north. 

4 *' Blackstairs-heights," a chain of mountains apparent- 
ly connected with Mount-Leinster, partly in the county of 
Carlow, and partly in Wexford, 

5 " The grey-clad mountain," means Mount-Brandon, in 
Ihe county of Kilkenny. 



38 MINSTRELSY 

No hunter's horn, the vales along, 

Startles the linnet's lonely song : 

But each wild path, since time began, 

Each glen is free from restless man. 

Most grateful landscapes to my heart, 

That eye, that mem'ry can impart. 

While nations rage for sov'reign sway, 

Contented here I lonely stray, 

Where the wild-rose's sweets combine 

With the dew-sparkling eglantine. 

Grey rocks with plumes of fern are crown'd. 

The tangled ivy creeps around. 

The gaudy furze, in yellow bloom, 

Here wafts its fragrant rich perfume ; 

While drooping waves the dark-green broom. 

The purple heath from graceful stem, 

Might form an artless diadem 

For the lone genius of the scene, 

Or mountain-nymph, 6 fair freedom's queen. 



• K And in thy right hand lead with thee 
The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty !" 

Milton's Z'dl(egrot\ 



OF ERIN. 89 

Serene the sky with balmy gales, 
A pleasing stillness here prevails. 
Ambition's woes are all unknown, 
Hence each corrosive care is flown : 
Content and competence are mine, 
Oh, spare me these, great Pow'r divine 1 
Give me the sweet, the pensive vale ! 
Where no rude sounds the mind assail ; 
Mild Contemplation here may dwell, 
Her silent shrine some rocky cell, 
May here from mortal care retire, 
And trim the lamp's pale midnight fire. 
The trickling rill, so soft it flows, 
Perchance might lull the mourner's woes, 
Or yield to hapless love repose ! 

Then hail, ye pleasing rural charms, 
Unstain'd with blood, or faction's arms* 
And ever peaceful may remain, 
The rocks that bound Kilcarrick's plain ; 
Tranquil, green Erin's sea-girt shore, 
Though loud the storm at distance roar ! 



40 MINSTRELSY 

May no base tyrant's ghastly band 
Enslave the fertile happy land; 
But may it long united be, 
In virtue, peace, and liberty! 



OF ERIN. 41 



WRITTEN AT AN INN, 

©N READING SHENSTONE's LINES, WHICH CONCLUDE 
WITH " HIS WARMEST WELCOME AT AN INN," IN- 
SCRIBED ON A PANE OF GLASS. 



The " warmest welcome at an inn I" 
Oh yes, alack, Tve sometimes found 

The welcome ! to be taken in, 
Provided gold, or notes, abound. 

But woe to him, whose empty purse 

Wants cash, loved source of each delight, 

An inn is then the greatest curse 
The pauper flies from with affright. 

Blest friendship ! grateful for the past, 

My benisons still wait on thee, 
Oh, may such kindness ever last, 

True friendship, thine's sincerity J 



42 MINSTRELSY 

Thus while « I travel life's gay round," 
Its follies, or its wisdom, see, 

I oft will turn, where joy is found, 
To friendship that shall solace me. 



OP ERIN. 43 



STANZAS 

WRITTEN ON SEEING A COCK-FIGHT WITHIN THE WALLS 
OF THE RUINED CASTLE OF CARLOW, PROVINCE OF 
LEINSTER, IRELAND. 



I. 

Say, could sweet fancy's magic charm 
The contemplative hour employ, 

While heard these peals of loud alarm, 
Commingled with the bursts of joy? 

II. 

Ah, no ! from yonder hoary tow*r ? 

Gilt by the sun's declining ray ? 
Discordant intonations pour, 

Exulting in the cruel fray* 



44? MINSTRELSY 

III. 

To combat urged, not theirs the rage, 
The plume-clad warriors now advance, 

Unyielding, breathless they engage, 
And bleeding spur the deadly lance. 

IV. 

Thus rush to war when clarions sound, 
Confronted each imperial pow'r ; 

Ensanguined squadrons pile the ground, 
The dire effects of one impassion'd hour. 

V. 
Vengeance and pride fierce man debase, 

Bereft of reason, maniac, wild ; 
More callous than the brutal race, 

More cruel far than nature's savage-child. 

VI. 

Tumultuous sounds once more arise, 
With triumph see the victor led ; 

While joyous shouts resound the skies. 
Behold the victor-champion dead ! 



OF ERIN* 45 

VII. 

Thou royal seat 7 of Erin's king, 
Which flung defiance on the foe! 

No more with patriot zeal shalt ring, 
Thy grandeur time hath levell'd low. 

VIII. 

At the high monarch's festive board, 
To friendship here the bowl was raised ! 

Attuned the harp's sweet plaintive chord, 
While Erin's valour minstrels praised* 

IX. 

But ah, these tuneful tones have ceased, 
Around the lonely landscape lies ; 

The castle spreads no regal feast, 
In ruin'd pomp yon tow'rs arise. 



X. 

No, never o'er yon time-razed moat 
Shall Erin's sea-green standard fly 



7 The castle of Carlow had been the palace of the kings 
of LeinsUr.— See Note* 



46 MINSTRELSY 

Resound the trumpet's brazen throat, 
Nor warder's horn be rung on high ! 

XL 

No bastioned rampart now we trace, 
Bulwark and battlement are gone ! 

Consuming time can thus efface 
The glory valiant chiefs have won. 

XIL 
Thence, see yon harper at the close of day, 
Where winds the Burnn's transparent wave 
along ; 
Pondering his much loved-country's deep decay, 
Mute Erin's harp, unheard the patriot song. 



OF ERIN', 47- 



THE 

TRUMPET AND CHURCH-BELL. 



Through the throng'd streets, in p»oud array, 
The gallant war-troop took their way, 
On trampling steeds, with nodding plume, 
And blades unsheathed, the warriors come ; 
Loud in the van the Trumpet's breath 
Wakes love of glory, scorn of death; 
Peals its bold clamour high and clear, 
And thrills each heart with joy and fear. 

What sound so sullen, yet so loud, 
Confounds at once the music proud ?~ 
lift the deep Death-bell's dismal sound 
War's stirring notes are sunk and drbwn'd* 



48 MINSTRELSY 

Yet still betwixt each heavy swing 
The shrilly trump is heard to ring, 
Arraigning thus, to Fancy's ear, 
The sad intruder pealing near. 

TRUMPET. 

Silence thy din, thou slow-tongued slave, 
Thou herald to the fameless grave, 
That tell'st when sons of lazy peace 
From their unhonour'd labours cease. 
Boots it to know, or when or how 
The base-soul'd peasant leaves his plough; 

Boots it to know or how or when 

Surfeits the pamper'd citizen ; 

Or how, degenerate from his sires, 

In slothful ease the peer expires ? 

With such mean tidings dar'st thou mar 

The voice of Victory and War ; 

The voice of Honour and of Fame, 

Who bears my emblem and my name ? 

BELL. 

Think not to awe my solemn knell, 
Vain boaster, for I know thee well ; 



OF ERIN. 49 

Not in the city's social bound 
Should thy discordant summons sound ; 
There fittest heard where ravens come, 
And croak thy burden with the drum ; 
Then fittest heard when ranks are broke, 
And squadrons stagger in the shock; 
There let thy braying clangor speak, 
Mid oath, and groan, and dying shriek ; 
There emulate the cannon's knell, 
Mock the gorged eagle's joyous yell, 
And silence with thy clamorous breath 
Thy victims in the throes of death : 
But here thy vain bravado cease, 
Mine is the house of God and Peace, 

trumpet. 
Yes, sluggard, yes ! I boast 'tis mine 
To cheer to arms the battled line ; 
With pride I own the glorious art, 
'Gainst fate and fear to brace the heart ; 
The shrilling Rouse, the bold Advance, 
Bids pulses throb and eyeballs glance ; 
The warrior hears my victor clang, 
And recks not of his dying pang : 

D 



50 MINSTRELSY 

Then, dull monotony, forbear 
With mine thy music to compare. 
Thou call'st the clerk to hum his stave, 
The sexton to the unfinish'd grave : 
To deeds of fame I sound the way,—* 
I sound, — and mightiest chiefs obey. 
Dust unto dust by thee is given, 
My strains send heroes' souls to heaven. 

BELL* 

Shrill braggard, well thy brazen tongue 

Thine own vain eulogy has sung, 

As if thy steeds, at Cromwell's call, 

Stabled again in holy hall, 

And bells, down toppling from their spires, 

Were destin'd to transmuting fires ; 

Yet, though I loath to boast my merit, 

List to the duties I inherit : 

Thy sympathies are blood and strife, ' 

But mine each change of social life ; 

A guardian of the public weal, 

For fires I sound my warning peal ; 

I call the wealthy to my door 

To drop their bounty on the poor; 



OF ERIK. 51 

Proclaim, with deep and awful pause, 
The vengeance due for broken laws ; 
Or, sadly, slowly, summon forth 
Affection's tears for buried worth. 
Nor mine the sounds of woe alone, 
Each public triumph claims my tone ; 
Hard-task'd mechanics know my voice, 
Signal of freedom, and rejoice ; 
And when the holy knot is tied, 
I greet the bridegroom and the bride : 
Mine are law, reason, peace, and faith ; 
Thine, desperate life and timeless death. 

TRUMPET. 

Such vulgar cares be all thine own, 
Mine is the station next the throne ; 
When monarchs sorrow or rejoice, 
In weal or woe they use my voice ; 
I speak their mourning or their mirth ; 
Proclaim their funeral or their birth ; 
'Tis my loud clarion tells afar 
Their high resolves for peace or war : 
Then, dotard monk, thy scurril taunt 
Be drown'd amid this bold levant. 

[ Trumpet flourishes* 



52 MINSTRELSY 

So speaks the organ of a crown, 
Herald of glory and renown 

BELL. 

Herald of earthly pomp and pride, 
Let this our precedence decide ; 
The servant of no human lord, 
I speak a mightier monarch's word, 
And sound within my cloister'd portal 
Of mortal death, of life immortal ; 
Of woes that mock at every cure, 
Of weal that ever shall endure ; 
Of wars against the powers of hell, 
Of God's own peace ineffable ; 
Of man renew'd by heavenly birth, 
Glad tidings, joy, good-will on earth — 

Then sunk the Trumpet's boastful clang, 
And undisturb'd the Death-Bell rang. 



The above poem appeared in the Edinburgh Annual Re- 
gister for 1810. 



OF ERIN. 53 



A RURAL SCENE, IRELAND. 



Glide on, bright stream ! for here I'll stray, 
Regardless of declining day ; 
While foams thy devious silv'ry flow, 
And echoing falls resound below. 
There view the richly-wooded lawn, 
The gloomy glen, and ruin'd bawn, 8 
As frowns yon abbey o'er the scene, 
With lichen gray and ivy green. 
While guarding safe the beechen bow'r, 
High rears his crest, a giant-tow'r ; 



8 A Bawn was a species of building in Ireland, serving 
principally in troublous times for the security of cattle. It 
was usually situated in a wild and barren country, and ser- 
ved to defend the pass from the mountains, as well as to 
secure the cattle of the district. The walls thereof, which 
were embattled, were rudely built of granite or mountain 
stone; they inclosed a large square area on one side, the 
bawn was defended by a portcullis, and on the other side 
it was flanked with towers. 



54f MINSTRELSY 

His stately column meets the skies, 
And time and tempest both defies. — 
Where the horizon bounds the sight, 
View the stupendous mountain-height, 
'Mid rolling clouds of amber bright ! 
I love to rove 'mid scenes like these, 
And mark the wild and mournful breeze, 
Sigh o'er the brook and kiss the trees ; 
Then pleased pursue the river's course 
Until I trace its distant source. 
Hail ! pine-crown'd cliffs, and rifted rocks, 
That firm resist the thunder shocks ; 
Hail, lovely isle of hill and vale, 
Mine own romantic Innisfail! 9 
How pleasing to the tranquil eye 
Yon cottage smoke that mounts the sky ! 



9 Innisfail is one of the ancient names of Ireland; it 
means the isle of Fate or Destiny, so called from an ancient 
stone chair, on which was sculptured, in Gaelic, 
Or fate is false, or, where this stone shall be, 
The Scots shall reign a pow'rful monarchy. 
This stone was afterwards removed to Scotland, and thence 
to England. It is now under the coronation chair in West- 
minster-Abbey. 



OF ERIN. 55 

Ah, speaks it not content and joy, 
Secluded from the day's employ i 
It was a royal breast betrayed, 1 
The wish to be a village-maid ! 
Health and peace, and rural leisure, 
Are the happy peasant's treasure. 
Such soft sequester'd scenes I own 
Superior to a monarch's throne ! 
I'd rather grasp a shepherd's crook, 
And muse o'er yonder bubbling brook, 
Than proud imperial sceptre bear.* 
A bauble ! Still a rod of care ! 
Who would not, rank and fame forgot, 
Prefer the tranquil shepherd's lot ? 
As glows yon mountain's purpled height, 
How rich the prospect with delight ; 
What glories burst upon my sight - f 



1 It was Queen Elizabeth, who had been beard to express 
a wish to be a milk-maid throughout the entire month of 
May. 

* " I had rather be master of my time than wear a dia- 
dem."— Berkeley, Bishop ofClogne, Berkeley's Literary Re» 
liques. 



56 MINSTRELSY 

While home returning, hopes renew 
Again to meet the fairy view ! 
Transported hail the lonely scene, 
Gaze on dark mounts and vallies green ! 



OF ERIN. , 57 



ON 



standing before the monument of the great and 
exalted philanthropist, john howard, in st 
Paul's cathedral. 



Immortal Howard ! at thy honour'd shrine, 
How burns my soul with ecstacy divine I 
How throbs my heart when that pale form I view, 
Last sad memorial to thine image true ! 
What godlike zeal to succour the distrest, 
' And pour compassion on the wounded breast. 
Fearless of death, the dungeon to explore, 
And pity woes, unpitied there before. 
Through many a realm, through many a scorching 

clime, 
(Proclaim it, Mercy, to remotest time !) 
'Twas thine, unawed by proud Oppression's force, 
O ! godlike man, to hold thy matchless course* 
10 



58 MINSTRELSY 

What bliss to ope the dungeon, and set free 
Th' imprison'd wretch, restored to home by thee ! 
To cheer the solitary cell's damp gloom, 
And mitigate the culprit's awful doom ! 

The balmy breeze of health-inspiring day 
Some captive breathes, far fly his griefs away. 
Of home he dreams, of country, kindred dear ; 
The vision fades— his fate calls forth a tear. 
Howard ! to heav'n affliction's pray'rs ascend 
For thee, who lived the poor's distinguish'd friend. 

What victor, raised in glory's dazzling car, 
Elate with conquest, and the spoils of war, 
E'er felt the joy that warm'd a Howard's mind, 
At risque of life the healer of mankind i 

Be hush'd the drum, no more proud banners 
wave, 
'Twas Howard's boast, the life of man to save ! 
Though states may perish, hero's records fade, 
His hallow'd tomb shall peaceful olives shade ! 






OF ERIK. 59 



WHY DROOPS MY LOVE, MARIA FAIR i 



I. 

Why droops my love, Maria fair ? 
Why trickle down the pearly tears ? 
Come to my bosom, rest from care, 
We yet shall welcome happier years ! 

II. 

Thus o'er the brook the willow mourns, 
When loud is heard the tempest roar ; 
To its fond natal land it turns, 
Still trembling to the well-known shore. 

HI. 
Yes, we shall welcome happier years, 
I swear, Maria, by that kiss ! 
Serene the sun of joy appears 
To brighten all our future bliss. 



60 MINSTRELSY 

IV. 

And oh, when summon'd from on high, 
Be thine my last, sad, fond farewell ! 
On thee shall gaze the closing eye, 
On thee my parting breath shall dwell ! 



OF ERIN. 61 



WRITTEN 



ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT-LEINSTER. 
This Mountain gives a .Name to the eastern Province of 



Ireland, 



Majestic, from this awful height, 
What boundless prospects meet the sight! 
Expansive tracts of country lie, 
Outstretch'd beneath the wond'ring eye. 
Thy chequer'd plains of gold are seen, 
Thy heath-clad hills, thy vallies green. 
Say, where soars Brandons-mountain now ? 
And where frowns Blackstairs' 3 lofty brow ? 
Diminished to the vale below i v 

They seem but undulating hills, 
The two great rivers, mountain rills. 



8 Both these mountains have been before noticed in page 
37. 



62 MINSTRELSY 

Fair Slaney's lingering devious course, 

Hath lost his breadth, hath lost his source, 

The mighty Barrow stems his force ; 

Like snakes expiring on the plain, 

Their cold and lifeless curves remain. 

Where are thy groves, green Newtown, 4 gone ? 

Where is thy forest, Borris, 5 flown ? 

All in their stead we may discern, 

Seem furze, or heath, or drooping fern. 

While o'er the wide expanded scene, 

Thou rear'st thy head, great mountain-queen ! 

The sea-breeze chills thy craggy steep, 

Thy hoary brow the tempests sweep, 

Beneath rolls Erin's ocean 6 deep. — 

Thy num'rous isles 7 bestud the main, 

And prostrate own thy parent reign ! 

While valour's pride and beauty's boast, 

Green Erin ! Europe hails thy coast ! 



4 Newton- Barry, the beautiful seat of Colonel Barry, in 
the county of Wexford. 

5 The residence of Walter Cavanagh, Esq., in the coun- 
ty of Carlo w. 

6 The Irish channel. 

7 The Saltee Islands. 



OP ERIN. 65 

Thy azure lake delights the eye, 
Reflecting calm the summer sky ; 
When Winter spreads his bleak domain, 
And clouds dissolved overwhelm the plain ; 
Thund'ring thy thousand torrents flow, 
From subterranean chasms below ; 
Impetuous bursts the foaming tide, 
Down thy dark mountain's furrow'd side, 
Seeking, with wild and hurried roar, 
The sedgy Barrow's willow'd shore.— 

O ! fearful thought, if on that day, 
When destined earth to pass away, 
High HeavVs last awfui trump should blow, 
To summon here the earth below ! 
Oh, sight most mighty, most profound, 
Where trembling nations stood around ! 
What joy, what woe, would man betide ! 
Who could th' Almighty frown abide ? 
Such solemn thoughts will here arise, 
While from this height we glance our eyes, 
Where far th* unbounded prospect lies ! 



64< MINSTRELSY 

Vast Nature's cloud-capt bulwark hail, 
Through ev'ry pass thou guard'st the vale! 
Though thunders roar, though storms assail, 
Flank'd with thy seven great bastion-tow'rs, 8 
Thy frowning brow resistance low'rs, 
Defiance to thy vassal pow'rs ! 
Hail, hoary mount ! first born of time, 
And hail each precipice sublime ! 

Be Erin's sons unchanged as thee, 
Unmoved by vice, from folly free, 
As onward flies time's fleet career, 
Their country's guard, to virtue dear ; 
Unforced, unconquer'd be they still, 
Firm as thy adamantine hill ! 

While o'er their head life's tempests roll, 
Oh haste they still to honour's goal ; 
And boast a hero's heart, a patriot's dauntless soul ! 

8 Flanked with.thy seven great bastion-tow'rs, 
Seven hills surround Mount- .Leinster, like bastions to a 
rampart, or towers to a citadel. 



OF ERIN". 65 



COME, WILT THOU ROAM WITH ME THE 
LAWN I 

A PASTORAL SONG. 



Come, wilt thou roam with me the lawn, 
What time the wild rose scents the gale ? 
Love ! wilt thou rise at early dawn ? 
Come, lovely Ann of Abbey-feale ! 

Like diamond glistens bright the dew, 
The Morning parts her crimson veil ; 
View nature ev'ry charm renew, 
Then haste, my Ann of Abbey-feale ! 

Wilt thou roam, fyc* 

Oh come, and we'll the mountain climb, 
And view yon sweet embosom'd vale ; 
'Tis now the pleasant noon-tide time, 
My bonny lass of Abbey-feale ! 

Wilt thou roam, fyc- 

E 



66 MINSTRELSY 

But now the darkning shades arise, 
While Luna sheds her light so pale ; 
Oh turn on me thy lovely eyes, 
My dearest Ann of Abbey-feale ! 

Wilt thou roam, fyc* 

This arm, thy safety and thy guide, 
My lonely cot thou soon shalt hail: 
Then say not nay ; thou art my bride, 
My life, my love, of Abbey-feale ! 

Wilt thou roam, Sx;c. 

Then, thou wilt roam with me the lawn, 
What time the wild rose scents the gale ; 
And thou wilt rise at early dawn 
With me, my Ann of Abbey-feale ! 

Wilt thou roam, fyc. 



OF ERIN. 67 



ON 



SEEING THE HISTORICAL PAINTING REPRESENTING THE 
DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE, WHICH WAS PAINT- 
ED BY THAT EXCELLENT AND VENERATED ARTIST, 
BENJAMIN WEST, ESQ., AT HIS HOUSE IN NEWMAN 
STREET, LONDON. 



Dignum laude Virum, Musa vetat mori. 

Horatii Carmen, L. IF, 0. 9. 



On AbraWs height, while conquer'd foes retire, 

Intrepid see the hero Wolfe expire! 

O'erjoy'd when heard the loud exultant cry, 

" Behold them vanquish'd ; see ! they fly, they fly ! " 

" Who fly ?" the Gauls. « Thank Heaven !" the hero 

said, 
And laid in Vict'ry's arms his laurelPd head. 

10 



68 MINSTRELSY 

While West, the Titian of Britannia's shore, 
Decrees this conq'ring chief one triumph more- 
For those unborn, the glowing canvass draws 
A hero dying in his country's cause ! 



OF ERIN. 69 



THE BOWER OF LAURA. 



The sweet-briar and the blushing rose, 
Dear Laura ! shall this bow'r enclose, 
With jasmine, and with myrtle crown'd, 
While creeps the honied woodbine round. 
In spring or summer's genial hour, 
Shall blossom here each radiant flow'r; 
The snow-drop chaste, the pansy blue, 
Shall stud the bow'r I raise for you. 
The jonquil sweet, carnation red, 
Shall forth their fragrant odours shed ; 
The lowly violet of the vale, 
With spicy breath, salute the gale ; 
The hawthorn and the eglantine, 
Their various blossoms shall entwine ; 
The cowslip, from its golden horn, 
Distil the balmy dew of morn. 



70 MINSTRELSY 

On chill December's lap of snow, 
The rich anemone 7 shall glow : 
The saffron, 8 flower of simple form, 
Spring unrestrained by winter storm : 
While cheerful 'mid surrounding gloom, 
Smiles the gay Laura-stina's bloom. 

I love the mountain thyme's wild smell, 
And love of nature's flow'rs to tell ; 
When the sweet blackbird's notes arise, 
And when the lark ascends the skies, 
How sweet the warbling of the grove, 
Where soft resounds the song of love I 9 



7 The anemone, or wind flower; its name is derived from 
the Greek avsfx,og, signifying the wind, because this flower 
is supposed not to open its petals, unless when agitated by 
the wind. It blossoms in spring, and also in January and 
February ; but the month prior to both, as being more po- 
etic in its sound, has been chosen. 

8 The saffron-flower, or the crocus. The vernal kinds 
blossom in February, March, and April. 

9 " 'Tis love creates their gaiety, and all 
This waste of music is the voice of love." 

Thomson's Seasons, 



OF ERIN. 71 

Here, Laura, shall each season's flow'r 
Surround the confines of your bow'r; 
When the bright sun's warm beams pervade, 
The sweetest shrubs shall form a shade ; 
Well pleased we'll hear the zephyr sigh, 
And mark the streamlet rolling by : 
Screen'd from the sultry solar blaze, 
On all thy charms 111 fondly gaze ; 
Wish long that happiness may last, 
And fondly tell of pleasures past. 
Oft as the lark awakes the morn, 
Or drones the beetle's drowsy horn ; 
When fervid summer decks the plain, 
Or winter's icy fetters chain, 
Thy image, Laura, still carest, 
Shall reign triumphant in my breast. 

Thus Love himself, immortal pow'r, 
On hov'ring wing shall guard thy bow'r ! 



MINSTRELSY 



STANZAS TO GENIUS. 



I. 

O, whether on the barren mountain born, 
Creative, all-aspiring Genius, hail 1 
Or whether heard o'er Avon's tide thy shell, 
From some sequester'd fair enchanted vale ; 
Like the lark warbling, whose melodious swell, 
Ascending, welcomes Nature's orient morn. 

II. 

Genius sublime, excursive, unconfined, 
Was giv'n to soaring Milton's mighty mind ; 
The pow'r was his, on high-born eagle wing, 
His heav'nJy theme o'er Eden's lyre to sing. 
Newton taught Nature's ways, then deem'd unknown, 
And Locke, sagacious, fill'd proud Reason's throne. 



OF ERIN. 73 

III. 

How many a son of science and of song, 
All-powerful Genius loves to dwell among ! 
And chieily thou, by Yarrow's classic stream ; 
Whether " The Lay," or " Ellen," be thy theme, 
Thou sound'st the war-trump* or the past'ral reed, 
The wreath of genius thine, O Bard of Tweed ! 
Live, matchless minstrel, in immortal lay, 
And blaze the glory of the brightest day] 



r! 



IV. 

Oft time unseen, though Genius' gem may shine, 
And Beauty sleep within the Parian 1 mine, 
Yet both the wand of taste shall raise to view, 
And proudly mete to each the tribute due. 



1 The classic reader need not be informed, that Paros, one 
of the Cyclade islands in the iEgean bea, was proverbially re- 
markable for the beauty and extreme splendour and white- 
ness of its marble. It is noticed both by Pliny and Strano. 
Virgil gives it the epithet of" Snow-white Paros," i{ niveam* 
n»p Paron, Sparsasgue per aquora Cycladas" — J3. in. 1. 126. 
And Ovid, " marmoreamque Parotid — M. L. vii. 481, And Ho- 
race beautifully says, " Splendentis Pario marmore purius" 
And Pindar, the great lyric poet, from whom Horace seems 
to have borrowed his simile, says, " Whiter even than Pari- 
an marble." Ilagftf Xi0», Xspxorigan 



745 MINSTRELSY 

The Star of Genius shall resplendent blaze, 

On sculptured grace the raptured eye shall gaze 1 

V. 

Ah ! yet doth Genius, in some luckless hour, 
Pine, like the poor Acanthus valley flow'r, 
Spreading its blossoms to the wintry blast ! — 
Its merits, too, shall meet regard at last : 
The proud Corinthian pile this truth may own, 
For low* Acanthus' wreaths his lofty forehead crown. 

Exalted then, illustrious Genius, rise, 
And claim alliance with thy kindred skies ! 



2 The a mollis Acanthus" of Virgil is an ever-green shrub, 
which rises to no more than about four feet in height. In 
architecture, the acanthus forms the capital of the proud Co- 
rinthian column, and also that of the Composite order, which 
is a species of the Corinthian. 



OF ERIN. 75 



PASTORAL ELEGIAC. 



-T arewell, ye fond friends of my youth, 
Dear boasts of affection, farewell! 

For yours was ingenuous truth, 
Long pensive on you I shall dwell. 

No more in green meadows to stray, 
The mountain's steep ridges to rove ; 

No ! cheerful no more is the way, 
And tuneful no more is the grove* 

Departed companions beloved, 

Successive ye rapidly fell ; 
From country and friendship removed, 

These tears how I miss you must tell ! 

Thus, in dismal succession Pve seen, 
Down mountainous torrents fast borae, 



76 MINSTKELSY 

Forest leaves, that once flourish^ so green, 
Like them you shall never return ! 

While onward time's current may flow, 
My lost friends long remember'd shall be ; 

Ah ! while in existence below, 
Still revered and regretted by me ! 



OF ERIN. 77 



BRITANNIA ! TO WAR SINCE THY TRI- 
DENT IS HURL'D. 



Britannia ! to war since thy trident is hurPd, 
Victorious thou'lt guard ev'ry shore of the world! 
United thy empire extend o'er the waves, 
While Freedom and Commerce expand the proudsailt 
Fate decreed hardy Britons should never be slaves — 
They're free like old Ocean, and fresh like the gale. 
Haste! unfurl the proud ensign, the pendant rear 

high, 
Bold Britons for freedom dare combat and die ; 
So long their stout keels booming billows divide, 
The sceptre of ocean with them shall reside ! 

To raise the depressed, proud oppressors to scourge* 
Loud cannons rebellowing awe the vast surge : 
To fell despots, this mandate a terror shall be, 
Proud tyrants still tremble, but Britons be free! 






78 MINSTRELSY 

The bulwark of Albion, her freedom sustain, 
And victory awaits you on land or the main ! 

How glorious thy navies, how gallant they ride, 
Brave sons of Britannia, long govern the tide ! 
Thy barks, while triumphant o'er Ocean's wide way, 
Shall to nations thy standard of glory display. 

Fate proudly decreed those should never be slaves 
To whom empire was given to rule o'er the waves : 
Thus, Britain, to war since thy trident is hurPd, 
Victorious thou'lt guard ev'ry realm of the world. 



OF ERIN. 

CARROL OF COLERAINE, 

A ROMANTIC TALE. 



19 



I. 

The sun hath kiss'd the western hill, 
Whose purple peaks proclaim the shore ; 
Where Bann, from craggy rock and rill, 
Joins Ocean with his hollow roar. 

II. 

Why weeps that heav'nly maid so fair, 
Why seems her frame o'erpower'd by woe, 
Why yields she hopeless to despair, 
That scenes of bliss should only know ? 

III. 

Why oft at rosy blush of day, 
With bosom to the cold clay prest, 
Chiding her lover's long delay, 
Why loves she on that grave to rest ? 



80 MINSTRELSY 

IV. 

When mists the mountain's brow bedew, 
And vernal show'rs o'erwhelm the vale ; 
Wrapt in her robe of purest hue, 
Thus droops the snow-drop to the gale* 

V, 

Ah, mark the pallid beauteous maid, 
Weeping o'er the tomb reclined ! 
See how she weaves that garland braid. 
With living rose and myrtle twined ! 

VI. 

Oh, hapless fair, that plaint restrain, 
Indulge not sorrow's piteous tone ! 
c Return, my Carrol of Coleraine, 
With thee poor Marg'ret's peace is flown !* 

VII. 

Poor Marg'ret ! could my sighs avail, 
While Grief her mournful vigil keeps, 
I would rehearse the tragic tale, 
That in yon grave thy Carrol sleeps ! 



OF ERIN. 81 

VIII. 

His parents poor — their proudest boast, 
Was, rich in virtue, rich in mind ; 
Yet these they wisely valued most, 
Blessings how rare with wealth combined ! 

IX. 

Fair Marg'ret's sire, a sordid man ! 
Whose fields and flocks were all his pride ; 
Whose pastures edged the mighty Bann, 
That rapid flows to ocean's tide, 

X. 

Ah ! not on Carrol fortune smiled : 
Hence sternly Margaret's sire replied, 
* A beggar ne'er should win his child ;" 
And proudly Carrol's suit denied. 

XL 
In secret grief the youth repined, 
At avarice oft would vent his rage ; 
Indignant still, his fervent mind 
Condemn'd the ruling vice of age. 

F 



82 MINSTRELSY 

XII. 

His breast, love, pride, alternate swell'd, 
On constant Marg'ret still he thought ; 
His ardent pride true love repell'd, 
And silent shades in sorrow sought. 

XIIL 

Ambitious hope, fond Carrol fired, 
Yet, yet to call the maid his own; 
To Indian realms the youth retired, 
Outstretch'd beneath the burning zone- 

XIV. 

Soon wealth repaid his anxious toil, 
His long-sought wish is now complete ; 
Once more he seeks his native soil, 
To lay his wealth at Marg'ret's feet. 

XV. 
The sun had.kiss'd the western hill, 
Whose purple peaks proclaim the shore. 
Where Bann, from craggy rock and rill, 
Joins ocean with his hollow roar. 



OF ERIN. 83 

XVI. 

Now rapid o'er the tranquil deep 
Echoes the galley's well-timed oar ; 
Loud cheer'd the crew from yonder steep, 
And briskly Carrol springs on shore. 

XVII. 

At hand a lengthning shade was seen, 
'Twas hers ! his Marg'ret of the vale ; 
Ah ! not unmark'd that prow had been, 
While scudding on before the gale. 

XVIII. 

Her parents long had ceased to live, 
Fair Marg'ret left their only heir : 
Carrol she long'd her hand to give, 
Her love and constancy declare. 

XIX. 

* Tell, gentle maid ! ah, sure you can, 
1 Lives the fond boast of Derry's plain ? 
' The fairest nymph e'er view'd the Bann, 
4 My lovely Marg'ret of Coleraine ?' 



84 MINSTRELSY 

XX. 

Surprised and lifeless sunk the fair, 
Her speech and animation fled ; — 
But ah ! not here will I declare, 
The impious words which then were said. 

XXL 

Let mortal ne'er high Heav'n arraign, 
Though ills through life should copious flow : 
To murmur, Virtue should disdain, 
Unwept, when undeserved the blow ! 

XXIL 

On rock, with wild sea-weed o'erspread, 
Near whence a gurgling streamlet flows, 
He placed the breathless fainting maid, 
Distracted down the cliff he goes. 

XXIII. 
His falt'ring feet he cannot keep, 
He falls ! — No brave heart nigh to save — 
Headlong down hurPd "beneath the steep 
Poor Carrol perishM in the wave ! 



OF ERIN. 85 

XXIII. 

Marg'ret restored, alas ! but raves 
Distracted since that fatal hour ; 
For him who'll ne'er return, she weaves 
Sad wreaths to deck the nuptial bow'r. 

XXIV. 

Hence heard that piteous voice to mourn, 
Causing each feeling heart to moan; 
i Carrol, oh haste ! my love, return, 
' Else Marg'ret's mind is ever flown!' 

XXV. 

See ! ever on yon grave she'll rest, 
Like sculptured woe on marble tomb ; 
Oh I never sorrow leaves that breast, 
Till death shall strike the mourner dumb ! 



86 MINSTRELSY 



TO THE MEMORY OF 

STANDISH WELD, 

LIEUTENANT IN THE FORTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT, 

Who fell on the 27th of November, 1809, while storming the 
Fort of Luft in Persia, near the Gulf of Bassora. 



Ix e fell among the brave, 
Where proud Bassora's billows roar : 

A foreign land his grave, 
And nameless tomb upon a barren 3 shore ! 

*Twas in the well-fought 4 field he died, 
But not unwept the warrior fell ; 

3 Although the country of Persia be proverbially luxu« 
riant, jet, nevertheless, towards the gulph of Bassora it is 
comparatively sterile. 

4 It appears from the details of the Gazette, as well as 
private accounts, that a very severe loss was sustained on 
both sides. 



OF ERIN. 87 

On him, his mourning kindred dwell 
Their friend, their darling, and their pride, 

To memory for ever dear ! 

True, to ev'ry tender feeling true ; 

The child of valour, and of pity too, 
Now breathless on his bier ! 

He, Britain's ensign bore, 5 
By victory's breath unfurl'd, 

Around each quarter'd shore 
Of the habitable world ! 

Fit emblem of thy transient doom, 

Oh too early fled ! 
Each flow'r shall shed its rich perfume 

On thy clay- cold bed. 



5 While holding the rank of ensign, this young man, in 
the short space of one year and six months, bore the Bri- 
tisb standard through the quarters of the globe. He was pre- 
sent at the siege and reduction of Buenos Ayres, on the east 
coast of South America. He was also engaged in the attack 
of Rassal Khyma in Persia, on the 12th and 13th days of 
the same month, in which he unhappily fell. 



88 MINSTRELSY 

The nightingale shall thy requiem sing, 
The rose of Shiraz, with fragrance spring, 
Around thy silent tomb ! 

Him, all desponding, mourn 
For aye; 6 they loved, admired, the youth 

That never shall return, 
Who was the soul of honour, worth, and truth. 

But he fell among the brave, 
And in Glory's lap is laid ; 
The debt of Valour paid 
In the hero's youthful grave ! 



6 Aye, always, for ever ! — and in this sense constantly 
used by Spenser, Shakspeare, Milton, Thomson, and Dr 
Johnson. 



OF ERIN. 89 



STANZAS 

WRITTEN DURING INDISPOSITION. 



I. 

Transient, though blooming, short the while, 
Ev'n like a tranquil summer day; 
Amid the beam of Nature's smile, 
See, life reluctant glide away! 

II. 

Gut down by death's remorseless hand, 
Ere yet man's perfect manly bloom, 
Once Nature claims her sad demand, 
And snow-white chaplets strew the tomb. 

III. 

Behold repining mortals mourn, 
What deep affliction to the mind I 



90 MINSTRELSY 

Of our dear friends bereft, forlorn, 
Ah, 'tis the lot of human kind i 

IV. 

If in death we slept for ever, 
Oh then how dreadful 'twere to die ! 
Not from earth our souls to sever, 
But in the grave immured to lie ! 

V. 

O, hail ! blest, cheering, glorious thought, 
The virtuous cannot sink to nought ! 
Their brows immortal wreaths shall twine, 
Unfading joys, and love divine ! 



OF ERIN. 91 



ON MY LAURA FOND SMILES USED TO 
DWELL. 

A PASTORAL SONG. 



On my Laura fond smiles used to dwell, 
As together we traversed the grove ; 
Ye once blissful moments farewell, 
I shall never forget thee, my love ! 

My false rival he bore her away, 
When he won fickle Laura's frail heart; 
May woe e'er betide the dark day 
That pangs so severe could impart ! 

That faithless is all woman kind, 
Around I will carve on each tree; 
While the gum that distils from the rind 
Shall weep, " Laura was faithless to me!" 



92 MINSTRELSY 



A MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION. 



Farewell, my children !" Such her voice in 
death; 
Who, while she blessed them, closed her latest breath. 
Adieu, blest spirit ! oh, a long farewell ! 
On thy loved memory ever shall we dwell ; 
Our inmost thoughts reflect on worth like thine, 
While tears sincere bedew a parent's shrine ! 



OF ERIN. 93 



SAGE CONCLUSIONS. 



Fugerunt trepidi vera, ac manifesta Canentem 
Stoic idee. Juvenal Sat. II* U 6i. 



Severe the task, 'mid syllogistic rage, 
To please the fancy of a sophist age ! 
Conclusions quite fallacious some indite* 
Absurdly arguing, * that black's not white !' 
Hear sage conclusions, learned critics mark ! 
f Colour i there's none ; we see not in the dark I' 
* Who could deny solution thus so clear, 
< Unless 'twere sooth some keen cat-sighted seer ? — 
Blind as the mole, and reckless to descry, 
These mine the earth* those boldly dare the sky; 
Deductions false subvert bright Wisdom's rules, 
And fools rejoice that others too are fools 



94 MINSTRELSY 

Shock not by telling yonder beauteous dame, 
On whose pure bosom glows the diamond-flame, 
Inform her not, for 'twould perturb her soul, 
' The glitt'ring diamond decomposed is coal ! 
' What fondly raised attraction's proud desire 

* May blaze on hearth of some starved curate's fire.' 
Be sure tell not I ' Those pearly drops that fall, 

1 Aroused at Symphathy's and Beauty's call, 
' Are mere secretions of organic pow'r, 

* Shed from the glands, as yield the clouds a show'r i" 
Humbled proud Nature, in her noblest part, 
Becomes thus mere automaton of art ! 

From Virtue's shrine the tears of pity flow, 
Benign est gift to mortals here below. 
Weep, heavenly fair ! flow forth these balmy dews, 
No chemic art can e'er their worth transfuse ; 
Though fire may change the diamond's fleeting ray, 
Immortal virtue never shall decay ! 

Then hence, ye plodding metaphysic train, 
What Nature form'd was never yet in vain ; 
With Garn'rin go ! ascend the starry sphere, 
But mortals leave Content and Virtue here ! 

5 



OF ERIN. 95 



ANACREONTIC. 



ANAKPEON. 



Euterpe, come, my song inspire, 
Resound with notes of joy the lyre ! 
Breathe them soft in Lydian measure, 
Attuned like Teias' bard to pleasure. 
Strike, strike, the harp and tender lute, 
No voice, no chord, to-day be mute. 
Rapt'rous awake the joyous strain, 
And fondly sweep the lyre again ! 
Come, beauteous nymphs, — attendant swains ! 
Welcome to verdant happy plains. 
Lead forth the dance and raise the song, 
Mirth trip the jocund crowd among ! 



96 MINSTRELSY 

Joy only shall my numbers tell, 

Joy only on my lyre shall dwell, 

Joy only can enchant the heart, 

Joy only transport can impart ; 

Strike forth with rapture, strike the lyre, 

Joy shall re-echo o'er the wire I 



OF ERIN. 97 

CAN A CRUEL TYRANT'S ARM. 

A SONG. 



Can a cruel tyrant's arm 

Awe the firm, the virtuous mind ? 

Can a tyrant's looks alarm 

The soul that fetters ne'er could bind ? 

Conscious virtue still disdains 
The mandates of a despot's breath; 
Unawed by torments, racks, or chains, 
Unawed in life, unchanged in death ! 



MINSTRELSY 



A PASTORAL SONG. 



Nos patriae fines, et dulcia linquimus arva; 
Nos patriam fugimus. 



From home in sad exile I stray, 
Removed from my dear native land; 
How tedious to him is the way, 
Who roves on the foreigner's strand ! 

The friends of my youth and my heart, 
For ever I am doom'd to deplore ! 
What joy could my home once impart, 
How loved was my dear native shore ! 

Your sympathy yield unto me, 
Where destined ye wretched to roam ; 
For unblest and unhappy is he, 
Who wanders from country and home 1 



OP ERIN, 99 

Foreign climates for ever explore, 
Pronounces stern Fate from her urn, 
To loved friends, and thy dear native shore, 
Again thou shalt never return ! 



100 MINSTRELSY 



ON 



THE DEATH OF THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX, 
A NAME EVER DEAR TO VIRTUE, FREEDOM, AND TO 
BRITAIN. 



Bewail the dead ! 

Thy patriot is no more ; 
Lamented Fox has fled, 

Britannia's sons deplore ! 

His country's helm he steer'd, 

The patriot bark aboard ; 
By Britain's foes was fear'd, 

By Britain's friends adored. 

Where Afric's kingdoms groan, 

Oppress'd beneath the ray ; 
Millions his loss bemoan, 

Whose freedom cheer'd his parting day. 



OF ERIN. 101 

Britannia's hope is dead, • 

Her noblest prop no more ! 
Pale Mercy droops her head, 

And Freedom's sorrowing sons deplore. 



ON SEEING HIS GRAVE. 

He is buried in Westminster- Abbey, near the great gates, 
opposite the tomb of the Earl of Chatham. There is no 
inscription on the grave of one so illustrious, save the 
simple initials (C. J. F«) of that amiable and distinguish- 
ed man. 



What ! no memorial to record his name ? 
Be Britain's heart thy monument of fame ! 



102 MINSTHELSY 



WRITTEN 

©N THE BANKS OF THE LAUNE, KILLARNEY, COUNT 
OF KERRY, IRELAND. 



Mid scenes like these I would repose, 
Where Nature's wildest views disclose ; 
Rude Dunloh's rocks sublimely rise, 
On high the tow'ring eagle flies. 
This echo, 6 from yon cavern'd shrine, 
Proclaims the forming hand divine 1 
Before that life was given to man, 
Th* Almighty form'd creation's plan; 
Where groves arise, where wilds extend, 
To Heav'n the mortal knee shall bend ! 
Though sterile 7 prospects may appear, 
These thoughts the scene shall still endear ; 



6 There is a most remarkably loud and distinct echo at 
the rocks, or defile of the gap of Dunlob, (which is the 
great pass to the mountains,) that will repeat five syllables 
as accurately and as audibly as the person who speaks. 

7 AUuding to the wild rocky scenery at Dunloh. 



OF ERIN. 103 

Long to the eye delight shall give, 
And with each artist's pencil live ! 

Fragrant each fertile lonely isle, 
Where Nature beams her sweetest smile ; 
Each fair wild flow'r here lends its aid 
To decorate the sylvan glade. 
Lilies of gold, and silv'ry hue, 
Bedeck the broad lake's margent blue ; 
And ev'ry plant you there may meet, 
It is a wilderness so sweet ! 
The 8 rowan's clust'ring berries red, 
Hang drooping o'er its flinty bed, 
While braving the rude tempest's shock, 
Th' arbutus clasps his parent rock, 
Whose brow the lov'Hest wreaths surround, 
With glowing fruits and flow'rets crown'd ; 
The larch and fir from craggy peak, 
Fling their dark umbrage o'er the lake, 
Which gives, like lucid mirror true, 
Each broad bold outline to the view ; 



9 The mountain-ash, or quicken tree. 



104" MINSTRELSY 

Gives back, in sullen pomp again, 
Each mountain, cavern, cliff, and glen. 

See, softly o'er the mountain steal, 
The hazy morn's aerial veil ; 
As glows the sun's expanding ray, , 
The drizzling dews dissolve away, 
Burst Nature's beauties on the day ; 
Mangerton's mount conspicuous lies, 
The awful reeks upreach the skies, 
Like dark-blue cloud in sky serene, 
Whose lofty heights enclose the scene ; 
Tall 9 Tuel, with inflected form, 
See ! scowling scare the thunder-storm ; 
While forky light'nings gleam below, 
Ereet he rears his rugged brow, 
Frowning, while whirling waves o'erwhelm, 
The monarch of his wat'ry realm! 

Pleasant the mountaineer's wild song, 
As move his burthen'd easts along I 

9 Gheraun-Tuel, which, in the Irish language, signifies the 
reaping hook^ and hus designated from its curvilinear pro* 
file. It is far the loftiest mountain in the range called Ma- 
gillicuddy reeks. 



OF ERIN. 105 

Pleasant to hear the peafing horn, 
While on the peaceful waters borne ! 
But who may sing the choral swell, 
When Echo leaves her mountain cell ? 
Each valley, cavern, isle, and rock. 
The music of the bugle mock. 
The viol's sweetly thrilling sound, 
Rings the horizon trembling round ; 
Strains sweeter than th' iEolian lyre, 
Or soft Harmonica inspire ! 
Slowly receding from the ear, 
Again returning notes we hear. 
Repeats a requiem sigh the gale, 
It wafts o'er mountain, hill, and vale ! 
List ! the gently murmuring stream, 
Renews alike the solemn theme ; 
As if the last sad anthem said 
A farewell dirge had blessed the dead ! 
O, sweeter than the orphean lyre, 
Than even Handel's holy choir ! 
Surpass'd alone by high-toned hymn 
Of seraph, or of cherubim. 
If to a mortal ear were given, 
To hear the melody of Heaven, 



106 MINSTRELSY 

From earth to air the soul to raise, 
And chaunt the great Creator's praise ! 

Observe yon boatmen's well-timed oar, 

Plies stoutly for the shady shore ; 

While from the helm, the stranger views 

Each charm that ev'ry look renews ; 

Who, gazing still as he retires, 

Reluctant parts, but long admiresr 

This boat again the stream shall ply,-— 

The prospect ne'er may meet our eye: 

Through life 'tis thus we pleasures see 

Like objects in a mirror flee. — 

Those scenes like pleasing dreams appear, 

Or dying music on the ear ; 

Or sun-beam on the winter snow, 

Or splendour of the heav'nly bow ; 

Or the moon slumb'ring on the wave, 

Or Echo sighing in her cave. 

Yet could we future scenes explore, 

* Like Scotia's chief we'd " look no more." 



1 Like Scotia's chief."] Macbeth, act iv. scene ii. [The 
consultation of the weird sisters. J — 



OF ERIN. 107 

Fve viewed the * reeks in grandeur crown'd, 

While fleecy clouds their brow surround ; 

Through wooded glen on mountain tall* 

Admired thy far-famed water-fall. 5 

I've seen the sun serenely set, 

His rising glories early met. 

Oh, view with rapture I could still 

His fiery orb ascend yon hill, 

While rosy tints of orient glow 

Blush o'er the crimson'd lake below. 

Present me here some lonely cell, 

Apart in solitude to dwell : 

A hermit Pll become meanwhile, 

Seek refuge in yon verdant isle* 4 



Macbeth. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo ; down \ 
Thy crown does sear mine e>e-balls : And thy air, 
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first : 
A third is like the former : Filthy hags! 
Why do you shew me this ? a fourth ? start eyes ! 
What will the line stretch out to the crack of doom I 
Another yet ? A seventh ? I'll see no more ! 

1 See note on Magitlicuddy's reeks. 

3 O'Sullivan's cascade, on Tomies mountain. 

* Yon verdant isle,] The luxuriant island of Innisfallen. 



108 MINSTRELSY 

It seems sure some mysterious pow'r 

Must gild those scenes from Dunloh's tow'r ; 

Whence looking down the steep descent, 

From this commanding battlement, 

Delighted far the eye will rove, 

Retrace each glade, or glen, or grove. 

Mark now the gazing deer on high, 

Then hear sweet warbling melody ; 

Whistles the thrilling blackbird's throat, 

Resounds the throstle's varied note. 

The lark with song assails the sky, 

The cuckoo's woodland notes reply; 

Repeat the rocks and tangled dells, 

While on mine ear each tone melodious swells. 

I could consume the live-long day 
Coasting the shores of Glena Bay ; 
When Luna's silver orb arose 
On Glena's wave I would repose ; 
While cuts our keel the rapid foam, 
Think not the while of friends or home ; 
Now view in slow meandring maze, 
Where Laune his mighty flood displays. 



OF ERIN. 109 

See, gently wafted by the gale, 

The bark in which the anglers sail ! 

While woods, that countless years have seen, 5 

With giant arms o'ershade the green ; 

In the horizon's fading ray 

Awe-struck the lofty reeks survey. 

Lo ! in yon wide extended range, 

The lively prospects constant change ; 

Now lighted by the sun's bright gleam, 

Now darken'd when withdrawn his beam. 

Now I behold each cavern'd glen, 

Then trace the dusky mounts again ; 

Now mark the gold-illumined peaks, 

Then faintly view the mist-clad reeks. 

Alas ! too soon I must depart, 

But long these scenes shall charm the heart ; 

While Memory retains her pow'r, 

Shall fancy roam each lake and bow'r ; 

Still fondly linger to retrace 

The beauties of this matchless place; 

5 Woods that countless years have seen,] The woods of Gre- 
nagb, the seat of Major Bland, situated on the banks of the 
river Laune. 



110 MINSTRELSY 

When oft with toil, with care opprest, 
I'll clasp thine image to my breast ! 

Here let the graphic pencil glow, 
The muse's sweetest numbers flow ! 
Calm Meditation, from her shrine, 
Proclaims the forming hand divine ! 



OF ERIN. Ill 



ANACREONTIC. 



ANAKPEON. 



Bacchus ! to thee doth mirth belong, 

Thou rosy god of wine and song. 6 

The sparkling goblet, wreathed with vine, 

And Thyrsus' wand shall grace thy shrine! 

How dim the oriental gem 

To Bacchus' brilliant diadem! 7 

Or what the lustre of the mine, 

To thy bright rubies, sparkling wine ! 



6 Thou rosy god of wine and song,'] it appears, from Pau- 
sanias, that the Athenians considered Bacchus to preside 
over both wine and song. 

7 To Bacchus' brilliant diadem,} Bacchus is said to be 
the first who ever wore a diadem* 



112 MINSTRELSY 

Hail, Bacchus ! friend of lively youth, 
Source of pleasure and of truth, 
Sprightly ever, ever free, 
Youthful god of jollity ! 
Let old Silenus quaff his bowl, 
We'll taste the pleasures of the soul ! 
When Love, when sacred Friendship call, 
Devoted at their fane we fall. 
Ah, none would shrink, should beauty ask, 
Much less decline the glorious task ! 
Who would refuse to aid a friend ? 
On him no blessing may attend. 
Young Bacchus, haste ! I love the eye 
That sparkles truth, and hates a lie; 
Love too the lip that friendly pours 
Enchantment o'er the heavy hours. 

Hail, cheerful god of song and wine, 
Hail ! all the social joys are thine. 



©K EHIN. 113 



MORNING. 



O'er yon empurpled mountain, now behold, 
In redd'ning majesty, the sun ascend 
His fiery car of day, and heav'n illume ! 
To renovation warm'd rejoicing Nature wakes. 

At early morn how I delight to rove 

Amid the dewy mountain-path, when scared 

A zephyr breathes, but balmy sweets around 

Perfume the air, and charm the raptured sense. 

To hear the cattle lowing in the shade, 

The hum of early bee, round some wild-flow'r 

Hovering; or sweet lark in aerial regions sing ! 

While list ! his brother warblers of the grove, 

Fearless of man, unite their matin hymn, 

Sacred to love, to liberty, and Heav'n ! 

H 



114 MINSTRELJSY 

O bounteous Nature I at sight of thee aroused, 
From crowded towns, and pomp and pride remote, 
My soul expands, as silently I view 
Sylvan scenes so fair, O holy Pow*r divine ! 



OF ERIN. 1J5 



PROLOGUE 

TO A TRAGEDY WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR, 1803. 



Once more the drum discordant beats alarms, 
Aroused again by war's dread clang of arms ! 
Peace Britain sought, though victor in the field, 
Each triumph willing ev'ry boast to yield; 
For peace could charm a state with freedom blest, 
Freedom, long dear to ev'ry Briton's breast i 

But wild Ambition raged on Gallia's plains, 
Shaking base fetters and tyrannic chains, 
Enslaved by traitors, anxious to oppress, 
France madly dared to circumscribe our press. 
Britons, arise ! your sacred rights uphold, 
Be thus your fame in Glory's annals told ; 
With blades unsheath'd, behold the gallant band, 
Their war-cry, ' God, their king, and native land !' 



116 MINSTRELSY 

Where Valour bled, where Glory won the prize, 
On Afric's land Britannia's heroes rise. 
* Proud foe/ they say, c in vain you seek our state, 
1 $Io Gaul survives to weep th' invader's fate.' 

Britons ! forget not when Iberia's boast, 
Far-famed, the Armada dared to reach our coast, 
O'erwhelming billows foil'd the daring foe, 
The Almighty arm hurl'd down the avenging blow ; 
Far, far immersed, beneath the roaring tide, 
Her navies shatter'd, sunk Iberia's pride. 

May Heav'n, whose might such mark'd protection 

bore, 
For ever guard Britannia's happy shore ! 
O let one heart, one soul unite the land, 
Beneath our country's banner let us stand. 
Hence, hence far be all party spirit hurl'd, 
Britons united dare defy the world ; 
While hearts of oak triumphant rule the waves, 
The sons of Freedom never shall be slaves ! » 
Could the bold task to-night we vent'rous try 
Call forth soft tears from Beauty's feeling eye, 









OF ERIN. 117 

Inspire the ardent partriot spark to gleam, 
And Britain glorious emulate the theme, 
Forgotten then all labour of the page, 
In the proud plaudits of Britannia's stage ! 

Now lend a hand! applause like your's has pow'r 
To make to-night the author's happiest hour ! 



118 



MINSTRELSY 



ON THE DEATH OF A BELOVED FRIEND. 



£2 sroio-HV Kttvcc vrXiov kpi-fy 
Ws<r '&&/& % pot. 

20$0KAE0N. 



J he last time, I think with a sigh 
For ever, you bad us < Farewell !' 
With anguish I thought I should die 
To lose one my soul loved so well. 

Though reflection increases my pain, 
Oft Memory the past must attend : 
I may sigh, but shall never complain, 
When all mournful I muse on my friend. 

On my couch or abroad 'tis for thee, 
At thy death, my loved friend I repine; 
When Fm serious, when even in glee, 
Still remembrance awaits on thy shrine ! 

10 



OF ERIN. 119 

But depart, selfish fondness, away ! 
Their loved friend who to earth would restore ? 
Thou wilt shine in the mansions of day, 
Though thy loss we must ever deplore ! 



120 MINSTRELSY 



WRITTEN AT 

DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN. 



O luckless Mona ! sense and goodness flown, 
Each native minds all business save his own. 
Detracting lies, invidious Slander's sneer, 
Rest, vulture-like, on Douglas' 8 boasted pier. 
Your life is safe, but oh ! I speak with shame, 
Manksmen blush not to pilfer you of fame ; 
Although this dogma may the sage affright, 
' No Manksman's wrong, he's ever in the right !* 
Like nine-lived cats, thrown from the attic tall, 
Safe on his legs the miscreant's sure to fall. 9 



8 The town of Douglas is chiefly remarkable for such 
commodities as liars, loungers, lime-kilos, rats, refugees, 
herrings, and hemp* 

9 The motto of the three-legged Manks coin of half-pence 
and pence is " Quocunquejeceris stabit." 

u Which way soever you fling it, it shall come on its legs." 



Ott ERIN. 121 

To crush fell Slander they enact no laws ? 
They do, — but only in a Manksman's cause ! 
Their homespun law and hemp hang foreign knaves, 
While native rogues a pitying jury saves ! 

Suspicion, fraud, and litigation's art, 
Unman this isle and brutalize the heart : 
No gen'rous soul Compassion's arm extends, 
Relents to woe, or stranger's want befriends. 
These boasts here vainly you may hope to scan, 
Self-love alone pervades the Isle of Man. 
Unwarm'd by science, chill' d by ev'ry breeze, 
Men's meagre minds here stunted as their trees ! 

Haste, stranger, hence ! where duty calls the while, 
No longer tarry in this puny isle ! 

Ye winds, blow swiftly from bleak Mona's shore, 
Never, propitious Fate, to see it more ! 



122 MINSTRELSY 



TO HEALTH. 



Health ! in youth's serenest hour, 
When thy radiance warms the breast, 
Thou'st alone the healing pow'r 
To lull the wearied soul to rest. 

Faintly droops the sicken'd heart, 
When rosy-footed Health has flown ; 
We pining wish from life to part, 
For all its blissful charms are gone. 

The flow'ret, pride of early spring, 
Thus falls beneath the chilling blast ; 
Its fragrance mounts on heavenly wing, 
Where pure etherial sweets shall last. 



OF ERIN. 1 23 



MOCK-HEROIC INVOCATION 

TO MERCURY THE GOD OF GAIN. 



Dread idol, hail ! whom sordid souls revere* 
Wing-footed god of gain, whom worlds adore. 
Humiliate crowds, attracted to thy fane, 
Bend lowly to the potent pow'r of gold, 
From seepter'd monarch to the shepherd swain. 
See in proud gorgeous panoply arrayed, 
The legal tribe resort thy courted shrine. — 
With reverence profound, attornies too attend, 
Plain in costume, not less sincere in zeal, 
They pious pay whate'er thy rites require. 
With hungry jaws emaciate calls on thee 
The starving suitor from the debtor's cell* 
Pawn'd his last shirt through law's divine delay ! 
Unawed, the soldier climbs o'er heaps of slain, 
Bearing his manly breast and arm opposed 
'Gainst each conflicting woe of wasteful war, 



124? MINSTRELSY 

With brighten'd hope of long-desired meed. 
Disease, too sure, some clime far worse than death, 
Await the gallant son of Mars ; destined though 
He be to bend to still a mightier pow'r, 
Hermes, e'en to thee ! save perchance he boast 
A purse or patron, promotion will not come ! 
A wretched pittance scarce through life can give 
The trappings of a soldier. Siege after siege 
He fights, and in the well-contended field, 
His country's ensign wrapped around his corse, 
Falls the stern warrior mid the bravely slain ; 
His meed ? the glory of Britannia's arms ! 
Aroused by thirst of wealth, the son of trade 
At risque of storms, base bankruptcy, and war, 
To seas and climes unknown he ploughs his desp'rate 

keel; 
Insured his freight, glad incense pours to thee ! 
The thrifty farmer prays the vernal show'r, 
Now sunshine seeks, with anxious hopes of pelf, 
And blithely sings amid his crowded barns. 
Behold! o'er sums untold of hoarded coin, 
Yon shiv'ring wretch applauds the love of gold, 
By lamp faint gleaming, in cold cellar pent, 
Useless to mankind, cruel to himself! 



OF ERIN. 125 

Yet not as useless is the lesson taught, 
* Wealth only is a blessing to the good !* 
With sanctimonious eye-balls glanced to heav'n, 
Her outspread fan the prude would seem to hide ; 
Some ancient maid admits the charm of wealth, 
Which man delights, and youth unites to age. 
" With spectacles on nose," and down-cast brow, 
The busy broker plodding o'er his desk, 
Computing omnium, discount, bonus, scrip, 
Mutters soft eulogy of solid gain, 
Totting the compound profits of his stock. 

Thy praise the sexton rings mid charnel vaults, 
When sickly seasons and contagion dire 
Have piled the cypress o'er the youthful bier 
Of worth departed from terrestrial scenes. 
Haply for such as that poetic youth, * 



a Henry Kirk White, of Nottingham, a most promising 
youth, who died at the early age of 21 years, having given 
strong and early indications of superior worth, industry, 
and premature talent, alas, but too transient ! 

See " Memoirs of Henry Kirk White," edited by Mr 
Soutljey. 



126 MINSTRELSY 

Who sweetly warbled on the banks of Trent, 
And early sung the great Jehovah's praise ? 
But, Henry, no ! thy semblance never more 
In all creation's round again shall rise, 
For genius, virtue, wisdom, join'd to youth : 
This meed accept ! with an o'erflowing heart 
The bard would weave his chaplet round thine urn. 
Adieu ! — Such themes as now the muse employ, 
Would ill accord with my more serious song. 
Youth, early lost, farewell ! 

Hermes ! though last, thy potent vassal comes ! 
Th' unfeeling usurer amassing ore 
Raised from distress and ruin of mankind. 
Thrice hail ! great god of gain, adored by man ; 
And ah, by beauteous woman, form'd for love, 
For soft compassion form'd ! Though, like Danae, won 
By molten gold pervading lofty tow'rs, 
Pervious to nought but Jove's almighty will. 
Like him, resistless in his lightning's blaze, 
Great conqueror thou of battled hosts and states ; 
By thee are senates crushed and plots revealed, 
Empires destroy'd, and worlds unknown explored. 



OF ERIN. 127 

Hail, Hermes,? hail ! whose necromantic wand 
Lulls Conscience, with her Argus-eyes, to sleep ; 
The restless tongue of Eloquence inspires, 
Instructing serpent Fraud in arts and arms, 
Thou sway'st omnipotent an abject world ! 

3 Mercury was called Hermes by the Greeks, Atto t* 
spfA,m&ty 9 from his skill in interpreting or explaining ; and 
therefore he was accounted the god of rhetoricians and ora- 
tors. 



128 MINSTRELSY 



THE WIDOWED MOTHER, 



— - . Doctem dolore trahebat 

Infelix. 



A lonely cottage in a wood 
Beneath a lofty mountain stood ; 
Flow'd rapid by a murmuring brook, 
O'er which the trembling aspin shook. 
A fallen birch the stream beside, 
Athwart its banks a path supplied ; 
Rude and rustic one might deem, 
Yet well in unison did seem ; 
And 'neath the mountain was display'd, 
Through a cleft rock, a. bright cascade; 
While smiled below " the peasant's nest," 
With sweet-briar and with willows drest. 



Off ERIN. 129 

The fisher-boy oft thither came, 
To angle in the mountain-stream ; 
While village children here would stray. 
And loiter through the summer day ; 
The minnow catch, the flagger float, 
Or rapid chase the mountain-goat : 
The wandering minstrel on his way, 
Here, blithely on his harp 4 would play 
Some wild romaunt, or melting lay. 

But pleasures may not always last, 
And these gay scenes are long gone past i 
Alas, how changed from that blest hour, 
When Patrick held the cottage bow'r ! 
Yet still is loudly told his praise 
( His widow once knew happy days,) 
Beloved throughout all Innisfail, 
I sigh to sing so sad a tale ! — 
This home, to social feelings dear, 
Had oft dispell'd Misfortune's tear. 
The feeling dame each pilgrim blest, 
'Twas her's to pity the distrest. 

4 " No harp hath the sound so melting and so prolonged 
as the Irish harp." — Bacon. 
I 



130 MINSTRELSY 

The friend and succour of the poor, 
She ope'd the hospitable door. 
Ah ! none now tearless pass the spot, 
Who pensive see the widow's cot. 
Though pity may not bring relief, 
As sacred still they hold their grief. 
Now motionless, the door beside, 
On grass-grown bench, behold abide 
The solitary matron ; where 
She silent sits in sad despair, 
At morning tide you'll find her there ; 
The evening sets as morn begun, 
Lamenting still a darling son. 

When Britain's trump loud rang to arms., 
Brave Patrick left his humble farms ; 
Where Gallia's boasted legions fled, 
Where gallant Abercrombie bled, 
(A hero by the world admired) 
Her husband on that day expired : 
He bravely fell in battle slain, 
On sandy Egypt's scorching plain. 
Lost Abercrombie ! glorious chief ! 
Britannia sinks in silent grief; 



OF ERIN. 131 

Proudly her annals long shall boast 
Thy laurell'd name on Afric's coast ; 
While mem'ry bathes with tears the grave 
Of the benign, illustrious brave. 

The story here the muse would close, 
In silence wrap the widow's woes ; 
The bard no more should hapless mourn 
A matron childless and forlorn. 
Ah ! yet her woe is but begun, 
The mourner had an only son ; 
Fond object of her hopes and fears, 
Her solace in declining years. 
He burn'd to hear proud deeds of arms, 
Panted to meet the war's alarms ; 
Ardent to equal his loved sire, 
In patriot worth and martial fire. 
When Britain's fleet beyond the main 
Routed the hosts of Gaul and Spain, 
He, with the hero Nile hath named, 
Discharged the duty Britain claim' d : 
At Trafalgar's recorded tide, 
In Vict'ry's arms he glorious died. 
Proud day ! that raised a lasting pile 
To the brave guardians of our isle. 



132 MINSTRELSY 

For Nelson slain, while sighs the gale/ 
The muse would close her mournful tale. 
Now the poor maniac roams afar, 
When gleams the brilliant Vesper-star : 6 
Then the lorn traveler, passing by, 
Hears the poor widow's piteous cry : — 
€ My Patrick and my child are gone ! 
« Unkind to leave me here alone. 
i Will they return ? Ah ! boding fears— 
' No end of war, alas, appears !' 
Unheard all day a sigh or moan, 
So sad and silent grief is grown ! 
Yet conscious though he glorious fell, 
She only on his death will dwell. 
Not England's boon can woe beguile, 
• He fell with Nelson of the Nile !' 
When the diurnal round is run, 
When the nocturnal course begun, 

5 " While sighs the gale." See note. 

6 The planet Venus, which is both the morning and even- 
ing star ; when the former, it is called Lucifer, and when 
the latter, Vesper, or Hesperus. Thus Virgil : " Et invito 
pracessit Vesper Olympo." — E. 6. 1. 86. 

Miss Baillie, in one of her plays on the passions, has 
beautifully availed herself of a simile borrowed from the 
two- fold name of this planet. It is in the tragedy of De 
Montford. " The morning star, mixed with infernal fire." 



OP ERIN. 133 

These woeful words are heard : — ' My son ! 
' So brave a youth, devoid of guile, 

< He fell with Nelson of the Nile ; 

< On Trafalgar's recorded tide, 

1 In Vict'ry's arms he glorious died I* 



134 MINSTRELSY 



WELCOME ROSY MORN ! 



L 

Aurora's blushes orient skies 
With vermeil tints adorn ; 
Aloft the lark exulting flies, 
Blithe herald f the morn. 

II. 

With sweetest warbling greets the day, 
On gladden'd pinions borne ; 
The vocal songsters catch the lay, 
And welcome rosy morn ! 

III. 

Hark, now adown from hill to vale 
Resounds the hunter's horn ; 
Its note still vibrates on the gale, 
To usher in the morn ! 



OF ERXN. 135 

IV. 

The milk-maid view, with brimming pail, 
From gladsome task return ; 
While herds are lowing in yon dale. 
Her voice salutes the morn, 

V. 

Observe the farmer at his plough, 
Unheeded houncl or horn ; 
Hear the blithe robin on the bough, 
How fondly hail the morn ! 

VI. 

Far wandering through the vocal grove, 
Oh ever let me incense burn, 
While through sequester'd scenes I rove, 
To Him who raised the star of morn ! 



136 MINSTRELSY 



LINES 

ON THE LATE 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

GENERAL IN CHIEF, AND PRESIDENT OE THE 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

Quando unquam invenient parem ? — Virgilius* 



Unequalled Washington ! and art thou fled ? 
Columbia's ever-honour'd chieftain's dead ! 
Great minds alone, illustrious deeds display, 
These early mark'd the zenith of thy day ! 
What time thy States thee sov'reign prince might own„ 
Thou nobly didst decline a nation's throne ! 
Restored unchanged thy delegated power 
Unhurt, unshaken, 'mid the stormy hour ; 
In rural peace retired from glorious toil, 
Like the brave Roman, to thy native soil; 
10 



OF ERIN, 137 

When rallied foes their subtle chief to arm, 
Intrepid thou ! d id's t leave thy mountain-farm : 7 
The ploughshare drop, and seize the victor's sword, 
Unaw'd by Gallia's legions, or her lord ! 
The bird of Jove thy forky fasces 8 bore, 
An hurl'd defiance on the hostile shore. 

Europe's admiring gaze the vet'ran viewed, 
Unchanged by years, still firm and unsubdued ; 
While seem'd the hero's cheek with youth renew'd. 
Columbia's warrior led the gallant van, 
Abash'd the foes of freedom and of man ; 
Vindictive war's dire flag no more unfurl'd, 
Freedom and peace he gave his native world ! 
Ah, cold the frame, which living, could impart 
The patriot's fervour, and the hero's heart. 
Columbia, weep ! thy tears, O Freedom, shed, 
Thine own adopted Washington is dead! 



7 Mount- Vernon, in Virginia, the country residence of 
General Washington, situated on the banks of the Patow- 
mac river. 

1 See note. 



188 MINSTRELSY 

Rear high the trophy to the chieftain's fame, 
While virtue, valour, consecrate his name ! 

May Heav'n Columbia long from faction save, 
And guard the freedom which her champion gave ! 






OF ERIN. 139 



THE STAG-HUNT. 
scene — Killarney* 



From Glena's proud summit the stag-hounds* deep 

cry 
Resounds, and lake, rocks, hills, and vallies reply ; 
Responding while echo soft welcomes the morn, 
How blythe His to list to the shrill bugle-horn ! 
The lively French-horn reverberates the wood, 
To its joyous loud tone quick trembles the flood ! 
Exulting the huntsman so jocundly calls, 
The peal sweet rebellows from Dunloh's park-walls. 

Hark, hark, to the chase, 
The fleet win the race ! 

When responsive the horn is sounded among 
The vallies so tranquil, enraptured the young ! 



140 MINSTRELSY 

The merry French-horn gives delight to old age ; 
Soon passion disarms, and e'en woes can assuage. 
The merry French-horn, when rung through the 

glade, 
The peasant delights, and his mild mountain-maid; 
Loud thunders the cannon, how awful its din, 
Announcing as signal the hunt may begin! 
All haste to the chase of the lordly Kenmare, 
Both stranger and rustic the spectacle share. 
Through glades and o'er dales, through dells and o'er 

rills, 
Hastes the stag, till, nigh taken, he bounds to his hills. 

A moment halts on foes to gaze, 
A moment graceful bends to graze, 
And his faint drooping spirit raise ; 
Then with careering spring he bounds, 
Elated hope to 'scape the hounds ! 

Ah ! frustrate his speed, he may not reach the wood, 
Down desp'rate he dives in the eddying flood. 
Now hope seems to gladden the victim the while, 
Seeking sheltering shade in his fav'rite isle. 9 

9 " His favVite isle." Stag-island, in Glena Bay. 



OF ERIN. 141 

All hopeless thy flight ! list the murmuring roar, 
Mann'd the trim wherries, see they ply the fleet oar ! 
Huzzas frequent cheer them, they start from the bay, 
To the stag's verdant isle the boat cuts its brisk way. 
View, swifter than sea-bird e'er dived in the lake, 
The pinnace has shot, the dogs spring from the brake ; 
They plunge in the stream ; the stag stoutly swims o'er, 
And rejoiced now he bounds on his fav'rite shore. 
The strangers and huntsman in barges pursue, 
How clam'rous the shouts and the sounds that ensue ! 
The muse must e'en now, nearly finish'd the lay, 
Exchange the blithe note for the tone of dismay. 
Exhausted, the hart seeks the arbutus shade, 
Ah, soon the tall antlers his lair have betray 'd ! 

The stag-hounds seize, he pants for breath, 

Sinking indignant down in death ; 

No more erect, in noble pride, 

With arching neck he'll graceful glide, 

Beneath yon lofty mountain's side ; 

Tears trickle down his large black eyes, 

He groans — the noble victim dies ! 

Solemn the French-horn sounds, and clear, 
The requiem of the slaughter'd deer, 



14& MINSTRELSY 

While gaze the silent crowd. 
Rich berried braids 1 his neck surround, 
Like sacrificial chaplet bound, 
On the dank sward the victim's laid. 

Poor stag ! all cry aloud, 
How ill thy harmless worth's repaid ! 
Ah ! tranquil shades and solitude, 
Extend slight refuge to the good. 

Though still be many a manly mind, 
That human force could never bind; 
Yet still, beneath the arm of pow'r 
Must Virtue bend, the weak must cow'r ! 



1 Wreaths of the arbutus, or strawberry-tree. In gene- 
ral, every exertion is made, and, if it be possible, the life 
of the stag is spared. But if the animal is slain, the cere- 
mony of entwining a chaplet of arbutus around the neck of 
the stag, and sounding a solemn blast of the French-horn 
over the fallen victim, is never dispensed with. 



OF ERIN. 14# 



SONG, 

ON SEEING A FAIRY RING. 



Where magic rings our revels tell, 

We fairy elves delight to dwell. 

We ne'er are seen at mid-day noon, 

But frolics play beneath the moon, 

When in silvery veil arrayed, 

She peers above the woodland-shade ; 

What time night's queen, in darkness shroud, 

Sleeps beneath the murky cloud, 

Meteors emit their flashing light 

To gild our gambols here by night. 

'Tis now the pleasant month of June, 

Brisk perform a fairy tune ! 

United in the mystic ring, 

We'll cheerful dance, and blithesome sing. 



144 MINSTRELSY 

While wanes the wand'ring moon's pale beam, 

We glide along the mountain stream, 

Or range, apart from guilty men, 

The hills or darkly wooded glen. 

Now, with our numerous elfin train. 

We commend the village swain, 

Who, before the day-star's rise, 

Abroad to cheerful labour hies. 

But long ere morn begins to dawn 

We depart the russet lawn ; 

Yet mortals from this circle trace, 

Where we held our nightly race. 

While men entranced in sloth and sleep, 
We here bur harmless vigils keep ; 
Sometimes grave, and sometimes jolly, 
We laugh 2 or grieve at human folly. 

% " Ride etiam quantumque lubet Democrite ride 
" Non nisi vana vides, non nisi stulta vides, 
" Is fletu, hie risu, modo gaudet." 

Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. I. p. 116. 



OF ERIN. 145 



PREFERENCE OF A COUNTRY LIFE. 

WRITTEN IN WINTER. 



rus quando ego te aspiciam ? quandoque ticebit 
Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis, 
JDucere sollicita jucunda oblivia vita* — Hor. 



London ! thy noisy pomp I hate ? 
And all the follies of the great ; 
Insatiate thirst of rank and wealth 
Impels the town, with loss of health. 
Sorrowful oft it is to find 
With loss of virtue, peace of mind ! 
Hence from the vicious town I'll fly, 
Where tranquil landscapes court mine eye, 

I long to breathe pure country air, 
Far from riot, free from care ; 

K 



146 MINSTRELSY 

Through the fields I pant to stray. 
Mid some devious lonely way 
At morn to hear the lark on high 
Chaunt his rural minstrelsy ; 
To see the sun's resplendent light, 
Relume the mountain's eastern height? 
And list the feather'd songsters' glee, 
Warbling their woodland melody. 

But chill November dismal reigns, 
And verdure flies the russet plains ; 
Then happy near the genial fire, 
Let calm and social mirth inspire. 
The world we shun, unheard a sigh* 
When those affection loves are by. 
We fly from folly, fly from noise, 
To friendship's pure substantial joys* 
I envy not high rank nor state, 
Contented with my humble fate, 
I neither court nor scorn the great. 

In rural walks we'll pass each day, 
While classic themes beguile the way 
Our nights shall friendship's circle trace* 
When sparkles joy in every face, 



OF ERIN. 147 

f 

Awake the harp, send round the bowl, 
Still reason shall illume the soul. 
Content o'er Care her veil shall cast, 
We'll prize the present, not the past ; 
Thus pleased as parts the satiate guest, 
We'll sink on Slumber's balmy breast, 
While Virtue o'er the tranquil bed 
Shall renovative roses shed. 

Our hopes on future bliss rely, 
Prepared when summon'd to the sky, 
Content to live, resign'd to die ! 



148 MINSTRELSY 



WALLACE OF RENFREW, 

A HISTORICAL BALLAD. 



" Regibus et legibus, Scotici constantes, 
rt Vos clypeis et gladiis pro patria pugnantes, 
u Vestra est victoria, vestra est et gloria, 
" In cantu et historia, perpes est memoria V y 



To gallant Wallace raise the song, 
TV avenger of his country's wrong ! 
To valiant Wallace of Renfrew ! 
Who, with many a baron bold, 
His country's freedom dared uphold, 
No braver knight proud Edward knew. 

He whilome singly braved alarms, 
He roused his country's soul to arms ; 
The patriot Wallace, val'rous chief, 
To hapless Scotia brought relief; 
5 



OF ERIN. 149 

His country's honour he sustain'd, 
Her glorious freedom he maintain'd ; 
The dragon crest, and hero's helm, 
Long watchful guarded Scotia's realm, 

A vassal Scotia scorn'd to be, 
And proudly Wallace turn'd to thee ! 
Stern Edward's fury he defied, 
On him the nation's hopes rel ied ; 
His patriot sword we saw him wield, 
And Scotia's foes desert the field. 

Let Edward lead his troops to Scone, 
Wallace supports our monarch's throne ! 
Let traitors from their country fly, 
This manly hero free will die. 
Oh for the land that gave him breath, 
How glorious 'twere to fall in death ! 
No tyrant bands his soul appal, 
He mid th* embattled host will fall* 

Hear his determined lips repeat, 

* We come, tell Edward, not to treat, 

* But die ; or victors on the plain, 

* Our country's honour still maintain.' 



ISO MINSTRELSY 

Brave victim of a tyrant's pride, 
A free-born warrior's right denied ! 
On London's scaffold Wallace fell, 
His virtue long shall minstrels tell ; 
Lamenting o'er his blood-stain'd grave, 
Bewail the fortunes of the brave. 

Scotia ! thy warrior-chief deplore, 
The hero Wallace is no more ! 
While Clyde's 3 broad murm'ring waters flow, 
For Wallace patriot hearts shall glow; 
Who, envying still his glorious fate, 
Shall his proud virtues emulate. 

To peerless Wallace raise the song, 
Avenger of his country's wrong ; 
Whose deeds, inscribed by deathless fame, 
Shall grateful Scotia long proclaim ! 



3 Wallace had been imprisoned at the fortress of Dum- 
barton, situated on the Clyde river, having been betrayed 
by the execrable Monteith. The sword of Caledonia's il- 
lustrious champion is still shewn at tlje castle of Dumbar- 
ton. 



OP ERIN. 151 



WILLIAM AND SUSAN, 

A ROMANTIC BALLAD. 



" douce melanc&olie ! Viens repandre sur mes derniers 

tableaux cette dcmi-teinte sombre qui plait a tous Us cceurs 
sensibles" — Florian. 



i. 

N ight's gloomy shades have fled the plain, 
Now, grandly from yon eastern main, 
Majestic see the sun arise, 
And with new splendour gild the skies ! 

II. 

Creation smiles at blush of day, 
The plumy race their joy display ; 
Alone a female seems opprest, 
Conflicting passions rend her breast* 



152 MINSTRELSY 

III. 

Poor Susan, since her love left home, 
The live-long night is wont to roam ; 
Of self forgetful, wandering far, 
Till beams the day-spring's sparkling star, 

IV. 

Each night o'er mountain-heights she'll stray, 
Nor leave the mist-clad haunts till day ; 
Then ever pensive pines alone, 
Regretting him who's distant gone. 

V. 

Exclaiming thus, with falling tear, 
Oh, were my William present here ! 
While distant waves thy course prolong, 
Dear William, from green Erin's shore, 
My anxious thoughts to thee belong, 
Once more to meet, and part no more I 

VI. 

Blow, winds ! be your peculiar care 
That gallant prow in safety bear, 
In which my true love's borne afar, 
To meet the foe in hateful war ! 



OF ERIN. 

VIL 

Thus pond'ring on the shore she stands, 
Where Liffey rolls his silv'ry sands ; 
Now lo ! a vessel comes to view, 
When brightest hopes her joys renew. 

VIII. 

Britannia's flag display'd on high, 
The pendant flutt'ring in the sky ; 
Now one I see rejoicing stand, 
A kerchief 4 waving in his hand. 

IX. 

* 'Tis he, 'tis he ! the sign I hail, 

6 At length a lover's prayers prevail ; 
4 Hence to the wind all care I fling, 

* Now welcome joy my love shall bring ! 

X. 

See, drifted 'gainst the sandy shore, 
The vessel sinks to rise no more ! 



4 This is supported by the high authority of Milton, in 
bis il Penseroso : 

" But kercheft in a comely cloud f" 



15i MINSTRELSY 

How pale and wan the trembling fair, 
Overcome by madness and despair ! 

XI. 
In heart-rent woe she smote her breast, 
And these afflicting words express'd :— 
1 Has William left his Susan ? no I 

* I'll follow to the gulph below I 

XII. 

* There fondly seek my love's embrace, 
' I'll press his cold, his death-cold face. 

* No waves should lovers' hearts divide !'- 
O'er Susan rolls the foaming tide. 

XIII. 

As William hail'd her from the deck, 
A wave swift roll'd him from the wreck ; 
Yet still o'erjoyed he swims to shore, 
To meet his love, and part no more— 

XIV. 

Oh what dread horrors seiz'd his brain, 
His Susan floating on the main 



OF ERIN. 155 

A pallid corse ; he grasps the fair, 
He braves the billows in despair. 

XV. 

Now with his prize he gains the shore, 
Where crowds the piteous sight deplore $ 
Each saving art is promptly tried, 
Breath is inspired and heat applied. 

XVI. 

Love and Compassion lend their aid 
To animate the charming maid : 
Long ineffectual ev'ry art, 
When lo ! now palpitates the heart. 

XVII. 

She breathes ! O godlike heavenly band, 
Who snatch from death with helping hand, 
From the destructive deadly wave 
Restore the beauteous and the brave I 
These votive lines belong to you, 
Accept them from your country too 



156 



MINSTRELSY 



XVIII. 
On William roll her lovely eyes, 
She views with transport and surprise, 
■ Does Heav'n my love again restore ? 
< My William, are we safe on shore ? 
' Ah, never from me will you stray, 
1 Beyond this fearful wat'ry way ?' 

XIX. 

Say, who now hurries through the crowd ?, 
And who is he in joy so loud ? 
With sun-tinged brow, and sailor dress, 
The anxious stranger well I guess ! 
Now clasped in Susan's fond embrace, 
I know, I know her brother's face ! 
Once more the happy Susan lives, 
A glad embrace to both she gives, 

• 
XX. 

< Welcome, my kind, my early friend, 
€ May ev'ry bliss on thee attend ! 

* No more, my William, thou shalt roam, 

< For battle leave thy native home ?* 

4 No, Susan ; no ! I'll never stray, 

4 Nor plough again the wat'ry way. 



OF ERIN. 157 

XXI. 

' Our foes subdued, we ne'er will part, 
' Then- take thy William to thy heart ! 
' In thy dear breast Pll find a home, 
* And never, never more will roam.' 

XXII. 

Beneath yon lofty mountain blue, 
An humble cottage greets the view, 
Where mounts its smoke from tangled dell, 
There Susan and her William dwell. 

XXIII. 

And aye unlocked the ready door 
To pity and assist the poor ; 
The stranger chear, and point the way, 
Rememb'ring this eventful day. 

XXIV. 

Thrice-happy pair, live ever blest, 
No more by fears, by woes opprest ! 
Let tranquil Peace sojourn meanwhile, 
Her olive grace the " sainted isle ;" 
Let Plenty, with her golden horn, 
Our verdant hills and vales adorn. 



158 MINSTRELSY OF ERIN. 

Haply the bard his harp hath strung, 
His country not ungraced he sung, 
While warbling plaintive notes the minstrel chords 
among! 



May thy sons, O loved Erin, both gen'rous and brave, 
Extend the strong arm from oppression to save ! 
Be thy daughters for worth as for beauty renown'd, 
Let happiness ever their dwellings surround, 
And their brows with the myrtle and shamrock be 

crown'd ! 
May thy spear, in firm union with Britain's strong 

shield, 
Prove ever victorious on ocean's wide field ; 
While virtue and valour, fond wish of my song, 
Thy glory, my country, shall ever prolong ! 



NOTES. 



NOTES, 



Note I. 

On landing at Penrose Ivylun> $c. near Holyhead, Isle of 
Anglesea. — P. 3. 

I am sufficiently aware that, in strict topography, Holy- 
head is considered an island, which, however, is connected 
at Four-mile Bridge with Anglesea-isle. At ebb of tide 
there is, independent of the bridge, a communication with 
Anglesea, and Holyhead must indisputably be considered as 
included in the map within the county of Anglesea, the An- 
cient Mona, and it is so designated in all the iters 1 have 
seen. Although Penrose Ivylun may not possess the awful 
elevation of Penman- M aw r, much less exalt itself with the 
towering grandeur of Snowden, nor possess the rich and va- 
ried scenery of Conway* much less the romantic beauties of 
Capel-Kerrig, it is, notwithstanding, one of the wildest and 
most impressive scenes that I have witnessed, and a seclu- 
sion so savage and retired, as would have well assorted with 
the genius of a Salvator Rosa. It was evening when we 
landed at Penrose Ivylun ; the great luminary of the crea- 
tion was retiring beneath the western wave, whose peace- 
ful bosom still glowed with the fiery tints of his departing 



162 NOTES. 

rays. The scene was tranquillity itself, uninterrupted ex- 
cept by the screaming of sea-fowl retiring to rest, or the 
echo of the hollow-sounding oar reverberating from the 
projecting rocks which we now approached; or by the 
gabble of Welch peasants and their children, who anxiously 
awaited our arrival on the beach, to convey our luggage, 
&c. to Holyhead. Our landing was undoubtedly a very 
grotesque scene, and would have afforded a fertile subject 
for the pencil of a Hogarth, a Ro wlandson, or a Wil kie. The 
females were carried to shore (the consequence of the tide 
having ebbed was, that the boat could not reach near 
enough to shore for passengers to land) on the backs of 
strong-boned Welch women. The males of the cargo as- 
cended from the boat into a cart, which also conveyed the 
luggage to shore. Meanwhile, we were entertained by be- 
holding a tall elderly man, most ludicrous in appearance 
and dress; he was one of the king's messengers, who, like 
the hero of Sweden, had reposed in his boots, aud, more- 
over, in his spurs! and who, ogling the grey-hound badge 
appendant from his neck, at one bound darted up on the 
back of a bony Welchman, while was extended, in terro* 
rem, a monstrous horse-whip from his dexter arm. No ! not 
victorious Alexander, when he had passed the Granic flood, 
could seem more elated than did this enterprizing chief, 
mounted astride upon the shoulders of an athletic peasant, 
who thus, in triumph, rode to the shores of Anglesea ! It 
would be difficult to depict the scene to which this bold and 
truly romantic assemblage of rocks should be compared. 
They somewhat, at a distance, apparently resemble basaltic 
columns, divested, however, of their regularity, and entirely 
fretted and indented by the continual conflict with contend- 
ing billows. Perhaps the supposition of trunks of gigantic 
oaks rent by time, and shattered by overpowering storms, 
and then changed by some powerful operation of nature to 



NOTES. 163 

one continued petrified mass, rooted in the rocks from 
whence their broken trunks arise, with dark and frequent 
caverns at their base ; this conception might convey some 
feeble image to the painter's eye of this wild and savage 
scene. 

Throughout all the north-east coast of Anglesea, there 
is but one very small creek or inlet, that of Amlock ex- 
cepted, which, by possibility, can afford refuge to vessels, 
and this is Penrose Ivylun, and so very circumscribed in 
space, that, to all appearance, it is but sufficiently wide to 
admit a single vessel a refuge from the storm. This creek 
is terrific to view, being defended on each side by formid- 
able barriers of massive rock. During the prevalence of a 
storm from the south, or south-west, destruction to vessels 
cruising near the coast is nearly inevitable. In the winter 
of 1 804, a merchant-vessel bound from Ireland for the West 
Indies, (the pilot being totally unacquainted with the Welch 
coast) and not having the precaution to keep sufficient sea- 
room, encountered a dreadful storm, and struck upon a rock 
in this harbour,, undiscoverable at high-water, when, in the 
same instant, her rudder was borne away, and, astonishing 
to relate, conducted, as if by the miraculous and protecting 
hand of Providence, they were instantaneously wafted by 
the tide into this very narrow creek, and happily both 
crew and cargo were saved. 

While I mention this fortunate and singular occurrence, 
I am sorry to state that many and frequent are the ship» 
wrecks on this coast, fatal to the vessels and cargo, as also 
to the crew. Would not the interference of the legislature, 
by causing beacons to be erected on this coast, prevent a re- 
currence of these calamities so injurious to the trade, and 
destructive of the lives of British subjects ? 



164? NOTES. 



Note II. 
Written at the Lake of Killarney. 
But when the dread tempest tremendously roars, 
How frightful thy waters and billowy shores, 

P. 24, 1. 23, 24. 
" In this, as in most mountainous regions, storms are fre- 
quent, and when the lake is exposed to their fury, its waves 
become so boisterous, that skill and strength are requisite to 
resist their impetuosity. The danger arising from the waves 
upon a basin of water not more than six miles in extent, 
may be regarded perhaps with contempt; but the lower 
lake sometimes presents the most frightful images of ele- 
mental warfare." — Illustrations of the Scenery of Killarney, 
$c. By Isaac Weld, Esq. Page 69. 

In corroboration of these facts stated by ray friend Mr 
Isaac Weld, I happened to meet with an officer of the roy- 
al navy at Killarney, who had been there some time re- 
siding, and he assured me that, in the winter season, it was 
really terrific to behold the lakes agitated by storm ; and 
that he had frequently seen the waters of the lower lake 
precipitated in dreadful grandeur over the summit of a 
lofty rock, or island, called, from traditionary records, 
O'Donaghoe's Prison, which rises upwards of twenty per- 
pendicular feet above the surface of the lake. 

Note III. 
Poem on Killarney. 
While Echo repeats from her cave in thy hills.— P. 24. 1. 1 . 
It is not, perhaps, within compass of language to convey 
to the imagination the rapturous impression the mind re- 
ceives from the echoes at Killarney. I counted beyond 
eleven seconds, while the enchanting sounds of the French- 



NOTES. 165 

horn, on ether borne, loud as the " pealing organ's" swell, 
seemed from the elevated promontory of the Eagle's Nest 
to respond 

" To the full-voiced choir below, 
" In service high, and anthems clear, 
" As may with sweetness through mine ear, 
" Dissolve me into extasies." 

From Mr Isaac Weld's excellent description, and his 
drawings, which so faithfully represent the scenes they so 
beautifully pourtray, we instantly recognized every view 
as it presented itself. But the more we gazed, the more we 
were enchanted with delight; and here let me appeal to 
those who have visited Killarney, if this be hyperbole ? 

Note IV. 

Thou royal seat of Erin 9 s king. — P. 45. 1. 1. 
This ruined fortress is supposed to have been built about 
the reign of King John ; but by some it is asserted that this 
castle was raised by Isabel, the daughter of Strongbow, 
Earl of Pembroke. It is, however, certain, that it remain- 
ed for a number of years in the possession of M'Murrough, 
King of Leinster, and his descendants, (who assumed the 
name of Kavanaoh,) until about the period of the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth. The plan, or construction of the castle, 
appears to have been of an oblong square area, with large 
round towers, which flank the four angles of the square. 
The walls of the castle, and of the angular towers, are of 
massive strength and dimensions, and remain in good preser- 
vation. It is said the castle has been purchased by govern- 
ment, and that they are going to repair it. Carlow, which 
gives name to the capital town, and also designates the 



166 NOTES. 

county, was anciently called Catherlogh, that is, the city or 
fort on the river. 

Note V. 
Shall Erin's sea-green standard fly* — P. 45. 1. 14. 

This is partly in allusion to her national colour, and 
partly to the general epithet bestowed upon Ireland, of 
" the green-island." Gibbon the historian, speaking of 
Ireland, says, " a spacious island, which obtained, from its 
luxuriant vegetation, the epithet of green; and has preser- 
ved, with a slight alteration, the name of Erin, or Ierne, or 
Irland." — Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Em- 
pire. Dublin edition, A.D. 1787, vol. IV. p. 264. 

In the beautiful poem of " Scenes of Infancy," by the 
late ingenious, learned, and lamented Dr Leyden, (who fell 
a victim to intense study at Batavia, and of whom most ho- 
nourable mention is made by Dr Buchanan, in his Chris- 
tian Researches in India,) we find the following charming 
passage, which gives a similar epithet to our favourite 
isle : — 

" Erin, whose waves a favoured region screen I 

" Green are her vallies, and her mountains green; 

" No mildews hoar the soft sea-breezes bring, 

M Nor breath envenomed blasts the flowers of spring; 

" But rising gently, o'er the wave she smiles, 

" And travellers hail the emerald queen of isles." 

Scenes of Infancy, part IV. p. 135* 

Note VI. 

Pondering his much-loved country's deep decay, 
Mute Erin's harp, unheard the patriot-song* — P. 46. 1.10, 11; 
Among the Irish bards there were three modes or species 
of musical composition, which may be thus distinguished r < 



NOTES. 167 

I. The Martial and Sprightly. 
II. The Pathetic and Dolorous. 
III. The tranquillizing. 

See Mr Cooper Walker's Historical Memoirs of Irish 
Bards, page 67 , et scq. 

" After the invasion of the English, the Irish were very 
much confined to the second species of music, though, (add9 
Mr Walker) the English, during the middle ages, (the pe- 
riod to which we have now brought down our enquiries) 
kept the natives in a state of absolute anarchy, refused them 
the privileges of subjects, and only left them the lands they 
could not subdue ; yet did our music and poetry still flou- 
rish. So deeply rooted in the minds of the Irish was the 
passion for the arts, that even the iron hand of tyranny 
could not eradicate it ; the despondency, indeed, occasioned 
by the loss of their liberty, damped in some degree their 
ardour."— Walker's Irish Bards, page 106. 

Mr Walker resumes the subject (page 125,.) " Thus we 
see that music maintained its ground in this country even af- 
ter the invasion of the English ; but its style suffered a 
change, for the sprightly Phrygian (to which, says Selden, 
the Irish were wholly inclined) gave place to the grave 
Doric, or soft Lydian measure. Such was the nice sensi- 
bility of the bards, such was their tender affection for their 
country, that the subjection to which the country was re- 
duced affected them with the heaviest sadness ; sinking be- 
neath the weight of sympathetic sorrow, they became a 
prey to melancholy : hence the plaintiveness of their mu- 
sic.' ' 

Mr Cooper Walker mentions an Irish harper who had 
this distich engraven on his harp : 

" Cur Lyra funestas edit percussa sonores ? 
" Sicut amissum sors diadema gemit." 

Walker's Irish Bards, page 127. 



168 NOTES. 

It may here be observed, that many of our national airs 
are of a mournful or plaintive measure, asGradh Ma Chree, 
(or " Love of my Heart ;") Dhreinan Don, (or " Brown 
Thorn;"} " Sa Murneen Deelish," (or «« My Faithful 
Pear;") and " Eibhlin A-Ruin," (or " Ellen, my Secret 
Love,*') and many other touching melodies, as harmonized 
by Sir John Stevenson, Mus. D., and graced by the poetic 
genius of my distinguished countryman, Mr Thomas Moore. 
There is an anecdote connected with the last national air, so 
striking, that the reader will not be displeased if informed 
of it, and also of the origin of a song whose touching sweet- 
ness was so transcendant in its effects. 

A distinguished Italian singer, Signior Tenducci, who had 
assisted at the Italian operas in Dublin, was so enchanted 
with the music, and also with the words of" Ellen, my Se- 
cret Love," or Eibhlin A-Ruin, that he resolved upon im- 
mediately learning the Irish language, which he indefatig- 
ably cultivated until he became a complete master of the 
language. So powerful were the Orphean strains of Irish 
music I 

Origin of Eibhlin A-Ruin, 
" Ellen, my Secret Love." 
" Caroll Moore O'Daly was brother to the cele 
brated Donogh, a turbulent chieftain in Connaght, in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was one of the most accom- 
plished gentlemen of his day, and particularly excelled in 
poetry and music. He paid his addresses to Ellen, daugh- 
ter of M. Kavanagh, a lovely and amiable lady, who return- 
ed his affections more favourably than her friends wished, 
who disapproved of the connexion. It happened that an 
affair of consequence drew O'Daly to another part of Ire- 
land, and the friends of Ellen seized the opportunity of his 
absence to promote the suit of a rival. By a variety of re- 
ports, artfully conveyed to her, she was induced to suspect 



NOTES. 169 

the attachment of her lover, and was finally persuaded he 
had left the country to be married to another. The afflict- 
ed Ellen, indifferent now to every object, was prevailed on 
by her friends to acquiesce in their choice. His rival was 
favourably received, and a day was fixed for their nuptials, 
which were to be as splendid as the hospitable manners of 
the times, and the social propensities of the Irish called for 
on such an occasion. The report of these preparations 
soon reached the ears of the unfortunate O'Daly ; he has- 
tened his return, and arrived in Connaght on the evening 
before the appointed day. Under the impression of his" 
feelings, he sought with his harp a wild and sequestered 
spot on the sea- shore, and, inspired by theenthusiasm of the 
occasion, he composed the song of " Eibhlin A-Ruin" 
which remains to this time an exquisite memorial of his 
skill and sensibility. Disguised as a gleeman or minstrel, he$ 
next day, gained easy access among the crowd of company 
that thronged to the wedding ; and, after exercising his ta- 
lents in a variety of ways for the amusement of the guests* 
he was called upon by Ellen herself to play. It was 
then that, touching his harp with all the pathetic sensibi- 
lity this deeply interesting occasion inspired, he infused his 
own feelings into the song he had composed, and breathed 
into his * softened strain' the very soul of pensive melody. 
The sympathetic heart of Ellen instantly felt its force ; she 
recognized her lover in his disguise, and, by that secret 
communication of sentiment that needs not the aid of words 
to convey it, intimated her unalterable attachment, and her 
readiness to fly with him from this reluctant engagement. 
The plan of escape was instantly concerted; the guests 
were more liberally supplied with usquebagh than even the 
festivity of the occasion called for ; they were reduced to 
a state of insensibility, and the happy lovers easily effected 
their escape." 



170 NOTES. 



Note VII. 
Immortal Howard, at thy honoured shrine, #c. — P. 57. I. \ . 

John Howard, Esq., the ever-respected philanthropist* 
He devoted a long and active life to ameliorate the suffer- 
ings of his fellow- creatures, and diffuse happiness around 
him. His humanity was not confined to persons of a parti- 
cular persuasion or country; it nobly embraced all his fel- 
low-creatures of every sect and every clime, untainted with 
-the proud intolerance of the bigot, or the self-arrogance of 
the sectary. 

He visited, with unexampled patience and attention, all 
the prisons in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. No 
expense, no personal consideration, no privation, no dif- 
ficulty, not danger from disease, not the loathsomeness of 
the dungeon, not even the frowns of tyranny, could deter 
him from his glorious purpose ! Nor were his humane and 
godlike exertions confined to his own country. He visited, 
at three different periods, the Prussian and Austrian domi- 
nions, and the free cities of Germany. He next went to Italy, 
Flanders, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Por- 
tugal, Spain, and France ; in which latter country he was 
very near becoming an inhabitant of the infamous Bastile, 
from his manly representation of the horrors of its despot- 
ism. He next proceeded to Smyrna and Constantinople, 
11 where that most dreadful of human distempers, the plague^ 
prevailed, pleasing himself (as he expressed it) with the 
idea of not only learning, but of being able to communicate 
somewhat to the inhabitants of those distant regions." 
While in Turkey, in the fulfilment of his humane designs, he 
caught the plague, of which, however, he recovered, and 
immediately visited various hospitals and prisons. Once 
more he went to Scotland and to Ireland, and having re- 
turned to England again, departed thence with the intent 



NOTES. 171 

©f revisiting Prussia, Turkey, &c. In 1789 he left his na- 
tive land to accomplish his benevolent intentions for the me- 
lioration of human misery ; one of his chief objects was the 
administering of Dr James's powder, as an efficacious me- 
dicine for the plague. It was on this expedition in Rus- 
sian Tartary that the exalted Howard fell a victim to 
his humanity. He died of a malignant fever at Cherson, 
in the dominions of Russia, towards the northern extremity 
of the Black Sea, near Oczakow. 

Thus perished a man who devoted his time, his fortune,, 
his strength, his leisure, and, ultimately, his valued life, for 
the good of his fellow-creatures ! A glorious close to a glo- 
rious existence ! 

Note VIII. 
The rose of Shir at with fragrance spring. — P. 88. 1. 2. 
Kaempfer, speaking of Shiraz, says, " No spot on the 
globe can equal it in the excellence or rich produce of it9 
vines and roses : and, as the rose gardens of Persia are the 
most copious and sweetest in the world, so those of Shiraz 
are the most fertile and fragrant in Persia." 

Note IX. 

The glittering diamond decomposed is coal. — P. 93. 1. 14. 

It has been fully ascertained, by modern experiments in 
chemistry, that the diamond, the hardest, as well as the 
most precious of all the gems, on its decomposition, becomes 
mere carbon, or coal. Carbon is susceptible of crystalliz- 
ation, and in that state is called Diamond. — See Philoso- 
phical Transactionsy A. D. 1797, p. 123. 



172 notes. 



:NoteX. 
And tell her not those pearly drops that fall, 
Aroused at Sympathy's and Beauty's call, 
Are mere secretions of organic pow^r, 
Shed from the glands, as yield the clouds a shower, 

P k . 94. 1. 7—10. 
It is meant here to expose the absurd doctrine of some 
metaphysicians, who wish to consider the human race as 
mere automata, insisting that the various passions, feelings, 
and noble qualities which dignify human nature, arise not 
from the generous motives that inspire them, but that they 
are simply mere mechanical operations ; which mischievous 
proposition would degrade man, " the paragon of animals," 
and noblest of the Creator's works ; classify him with the 
brute or plant creation, and place his thoughts, motives, 
and actions, on a level with the contraction of the sun- 
flower, or the collapsion and expansion of the sensitive 
plant. 

Note XI. 
With Garnerin go / ascend the stary sphere, — P. 94. 1. 21. 
Monsieur Garnerin, the celebrated French aeronaut, who 
has made aerial excursions in France and in England. 

Note XII. 

Now view, in slow meandring maze, 

Where Laune his mighty flood displays. — P. 108. 1. 21, 22. 

The river Laune is the grand outlet of the lakes; in a de- 
vious course of seven or eight miles it winds along, until its 
confluence with the river Main, when their tributary streams 
are received into the bay of Castlemain, whence they pro- 
ceed to join the waters of the Atlantic ocean. The river 
Laune is navigable for small craft. 



NOTES. 273 



Note XIII. 
O luckless Mono, ! #c— P. 120. 1. i. 
The Isle of Man, as well as Anglesea, is called Mona, the 
latter being so called by Caesar in his Commentaries, which 
has been already noticed. All passports from the Isle of 
Man have inscribed in the margin, " Insula Monte" And, 
in a work published in that island, entitled " The Statutes 
and Ordinances of the Isle of Man. By T. Stowel, advocate. 
Douglas, printed by Briscoe, 1792," page 13, Man is like- 
wise called, in a marginal reference, u Insula Monae." From 
this work it appears that their " statutes" are equivalent 
to our lex scripta, or statute law, and their " ordinances" 
to our lex non scripta, or common law. The laws, or acts 
of the Isle of Man become such when they are passed by 
the lord of the isle, by his governor and council, and twen- 
ty-four keys, (the representatives of the people,) these 
being the three estates that compose the legislature of the 
island. But these acts do not become operative, nor have 
the force of laws, until, pursuant to immemorial usage, 
they are promulgated from the Tynwald Hill, which evi- 
dently appears to be a Danish mount, and is situated in the 
centre of the island : in the same manner Kenneth the Se- 
cond, upon his conquest of the Picts in the 9th century, de-* 
livered his laws from a tumulus called the Mote Hill of 
Scone, where afterwards the Scottish kings were crowned. 

Note XIV. 
Unawed the soldier climbs o'er heaps of slain, 
Stoutly bearing his manly breast opposed 
'Gainst each conflicting woe of wasteful war, 



174 NOTES. 

Falls the warrior amid the bravely slain. 
His meed the glory of Britannia's arms ! 

Page 123. 1. 14—20. 
" What I said Perdiccas to Alexander the Great, whose 
generosity had bereft him of every acquisition, all of which 
he had bestowed upon his friends ; what, said Perdiccas, 
have you left yourself? ' My hopes!' replied the hero. 
* Then', exclaimed Perdiccas, ' you will not take it ill if we 
who are to share with you in your dangers, desire to share 
with you also in your hopes." — Plutarch's Life of Alex- 
finder, 

Note XV. 

though, like Danae, won 

By molten gold pervading lofty towers, 
Pervious to nought but Jove's almighty will. 

P. 126. 1. 16—18. 
" Inclusam Danae turris ahenea," &c. 

Hor. Car. XVI. 1. III. 
And Ovid. Amor. Lib. 3. Eleg. IV. v. 29. 

" Jupiter admonitus nil esse potentius auro, 
" Corruptee pretium virginis ipse fuit." 
I forget in what author the following line occurs, that 
even the gates of hell are not proof against its influence .' 
as gold opens every thing. 

81 Xgucroq avoiysi Ttavra, tc al$u <rt\ih&q ." 

Note XVI. 
The wandering minstrel on his way, 
Here blithely on his harp would play 
Some wild romaunt or melting lay, — P. 129. 1. 7 — 9. 
Giraldus Cambrensis, in his Topography of Ireland* cap* 
Hi lib. 8 > speaks of the incomparable musical skill of the 



NOTES. 175 

Irish beyond every other nation he had observed. His 
words are : " In musicis instruments commendabilem in- 
venio istius gentis diligentiam ; in quibus prse omni natione 
quam vidimus incomparabiliter est instructa." 

This superior musical skill in the Irish nation is still fur- 
ther confirmed by Polydore Virgil, Camden, and others. 
Vide Wynne's History of Wales, page 159; Powel's His- 
tory of Cambria, page 191 ; and Camden's Britannia, 
where is told a curious anecdote respecting the finding of 
buried treasure, discovered by means of the song of an Irish 
harper; folio edition, A. D. 1095, page 1222. See also 
Mr Cooper Walker's Irish Bards, p. 69, 

DrLeland, in his preliminary discourse to his History of 
Ireland, page 15, observes, that the Irish " to verse and mu- 
sic are peculiarly addicted." Dr Warner, likewise, in his 
History of Ireland, vol. I. page 72, says, tfi the aits of po- 
etry and music were encouraged to a degree of extrava- 
gance." And Mr O'Connor, in his " Dissertations on the 
History of Ireland, and on the Irish Colonies established in 
Britain," pages 57 and 67, goes over the same groui.d. He 
observes, that " a modern composer, one of the best musi- 
cal judges in Europe, (it was Geminiani,) was so struck with 
the harmony of our airs, that he declared he found none of 
so original a turn on this side of the Alps." — O'Connor's 
History of Ireland, page 58. And, in a note, Mr O'Connor 
observes, that " Handel declared he would rather have 
been the composer of Eiblin A-roon (or M Ellen, my Secret 
Love," of which I have already taken notice) than of all 
the music he had ever composed !" 

I cannot refrain from here giving an authentic anecdote 
of one of the most distinguished of our bards, the blind and 
venerable minstrel, Carolan, conveying, as it does, so 
powerful a testimony of his unequalled musical genius. 

" Geminiani, the most celebrated musician of his day,. 



176 NOTES. 

•wishing to put his [Cardan's] talents to the test, sent to 
him an Italian composition, which he had purposely muti- 
lated in such a way as to evade the detection of any per- 
son but one of the most nice and genuine musical discern- 
ment. Tt was played for Carolan, who admired the compo- 
sition, but remarked, in Irish, ' ta sa air chois baccaigh,' 
it limps like a lame man. He instantly took up his harp, 
and supplied what he said it wanted, and this being added 
to the tune, it was sent back to Geminiani ; to his astonish- 
ment, he found Carolan had inserted, by the natural force 
of his genius, the very passages which he had obliterated, 
and he ever after pronounced him a genuine son of song. 
From his report, the merit and reputation of our bard ex- 
tended even to Italy, where he is known at this day by the 
name of Carolonius !" — Sketch of the Life of Carolan, p. 3. 

Note XVII. 

The friend and succour of the poor, 
She oped the hospitable door. — P. 130. 1. 1,2. 
It is the uniform established custom throughout Ireland, 
that while the cottier and peasant are at their frugal meal, 
the hospitable door is flung open to the stranger, who, if he 
will enter, will be sure to find himself a welcome guest : 
speaking in unequivocal language, " here is comfort for the 
weary traveller, our pittance we will divide with the hun- 
gry and distressed !" 

" Blest that abode where want and pain repair, 
" Andev'ry stranger finds a ready chair." 

Goldsmith, 

It may gratify the reader here to mention some particu- 
lars relating to a supposed violation of this " unwritten 
law" of Irish hospitality, or usage of leaving the door open 

5 



NOTES. 177 

during dinner-hour, on the part of one of the ancestors 
of the Earl of Howth, as it was accompanied with cir- 
cumstances eventful to the heir-apparent of the earldom, 
and has been subsequently attended with a remarkable 
usage, which exists to the present hour in that noble fami- 
ly. (1812,) 

Grace O'Maly, celebrated in Irish story, but better 
known by the popular appellation of " Grana Uile," was 
the daughter of a powerful chieftain on the coast of Mayo, 
who resided at Carigahooly Castle. Grace and her father 
both flourished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; O'Maly 
was powerful ingallies and seamen, and was considered so 
formidable for his numerous piracies, that the lord-deputy 
Sidney, in 1576, wrote to the council in England noticing 
the depredations which he had committed. Grace, or Grana 
Uile, was a very high-spirited lady, and having accompa- 
nied her father in many naval expeditions, imbibed a taste 
for nautical depredations; and, upon his death, became 
formidable for her piracies, which bein^ represented to 
Elizabeth, a large sum was ottered for apprehending her. 
t To make her peace, therefore, Grana Uile proceeded to 
the court of Britain, and having succeeded, returned to 
Ireland, and landed in a little creek near Howth. She 
approached the castle, and found the gates shut, the fa- 
mily being at dinner. After some enquiries, it was disco- 
vered that Lord Howth had a child nursing not far off; it 
was a boy, and heir to the title : she carried the youth on 
board her vessel, immediately set sail, and safely arrived at 
Carigahooly; nor was the child restored until the Earl 
paid a large ransom, as a punishment for his inhospitality. 
In the state bed-chamber of Howth Castle is shewn an 
ancient painting commemorative of this event : Grana is 
represented mounted on a grey horse, not in the most femi- 
nine attitude, and about to carry off the child along with 
M 



178 NOTES, 

her. In consequence of the stipulation then entered into 
between this amazon pirate and the then Lord Howth, it is 
a positive fact that the gates of Howth Castle, and the door 
of the great hall, are still open, summer and winter, until 
ten o'clock at night ! so faithfully has the contract been ob- 
served. 

*' History informs us that the name of this ancient fami- 
ly, which is of English extraction, was originally Tristrem, 
till, on St Lawrence's day, Sir Almericus Tristrem being to 
command an army against the Danes near Clontarffe, made 
a vow to that saint, that, if he got the victory, he and his 
posterity, in honour of him, should bear the name of St Law- 
rence, which has so continued to this time ; and the sword 
wherewith he fought is now hanging up at the great hall of 
Howth, the seat of the present lord," — Kimber's Peer- 
age. London, 1762, page 116. 

The armour, or part of it, the helmet and breast-plate, 
are still shown in the hall of the castle, and also his sword. 
The point of the sword is broken. His tomb, which is 
very ancient, is within the ruined church of the abbey in 
Howth town. 

The promontory of Howth, which forms the northern en- 
trance of the bay of Dublin, is distant eight miles from that 
city. It was anciently called Ben-hedar, u e. the Bird's 
Promontory, or Cape ; and was celebrated for having been 
the spot where the roval palace of Criomthan had been 
erected. He had been chief, or king, of the district; and 
he is memorable for having made several successful descents 
on the coast of Britain against the Komans, in the time of 
Agricola. 

In the rolls office, Dublin, there is a grant from Edward 
the First of the lordship or seigniory of Howde to Almeric 
Saint Lawrence. Ben-hedar being the ancient name of 
this head-land, Hedar might easily be corrupted into Hade, 



NOTES. 179 

Hade into Howde, and then the transition from Howde to 
Howth, the present name, is easy, and hence I conceive the 
etymology may be traced. 

Note.XVIII. 

For Nelson slain while sighs the gale, — P. 132. 1. 1. 

" The battle of Trafalgar was fought on the 21st of Oc- 
tober, 1805; on the 23d a violent gale of wind commenced, 
which continued unabated for nearly two days." — BriAT- 
tie's Account of the Last Moments of Lord Nelson, 

The intelligence of this glorious and important victory 
was conveyed to Dublin from Holyhead in Captain Skin- 
ner's vessel, in which I happened to be a passenger. We 
landed so early as six o'clock a. m., at the village of Dun- 
leary, which is distant only about six miles from Dublin ; 
but, most strange to relate, it was not until towards the af- 
ternoon the public were made acquainted officially with 
that most important communication. But it is presumed 
* c the sleepy grooms" had been previously instructed not to 
*' awaken" the drowsy secretary " with their knocking !" 

Note XIX. 
UneauaWd Washington, and art thou fed? — P. 136. 1. I. 
The character, talents, virtues, and moderation of this 
great patriot, warrior, and legislator, are generally known ; 
but it is only in reading his life that we become intimately 
acquainted with his persevering genius, his order, his regu- 
larity, and his never-failing presence of mind, (the true at- 
tribute of a hero,) and it is then we justly appreciate their 
value. Washington, indeed, had no common difficulties to 
contend with ; he had frequently to oppose a formidable 
exterior to his enemies, when, in reality, be had but a very 
scanty force to support him. How arduous, and how dis- 
piriting the task he had to carry on with the Congress to 



180 NOTES. 

avoid their jealousy, procure their sanction of those mea* 
sures that imperious necessity prescribed, and, finally, to 
secure their unanimity ; thus the delays resulting from the 
above causes often proved nearly fatal to his plans. But 
these were not the only difficulties he had to encounter, 
there were others still more serious; he was under the ne- 
cessity of inoculating his army to diminish the fatal aspe- 
rity of a contagion (the small-pox) which had been import- 
ed from Europe. The short period of time for which the 
services of the militia were enrolled, was another evil which 
formidably tended to embarrass his operations. It often 
happened that Washington was unfortunately without ca- 
valry, and without commissaries; and, stranger still, some- 
times he was even without an army ! his mind still firm and 
unbending ; his genius and indefatigable industry supported 
him throughout, still the hero rallied his forces, and emer- 
ged from every difficulty with unshaken hope an ! dignified 
resolution. He saved his country; he gave her glory ; he 
gave her freedom ; he gave her peace ! And then, with the 
moderation and magnanimity of an exalted spirit, he resto- 
red to America, amid the blessings and applauses of the 
people, that power they had delegated to him in the hour 
of adversity, pure and unstained, as it had been received. 
Thus, surpassing all the characters we read of in Greek or 
Roman story, he retired, crowned with glory, into rural se- 
clusion ; and, when the enemies of America and freedom 
(the French) menaced his conntry, his old, but undaunted 
hand again seized the warrior's truncheon, he rallied the 
forces of his country, and awed her enemies once more, 

" Finem dignum et optimo viro, et opere." 

Having said thus much of this illustrious man, I cannot 
conclude this note without observing, that not only the glo- 



NOTES. 181 

ry, but the morals of his country were dear to Washington, 
he having bequeathed a great part of his wealth for the 
public instruction of the youth of America. 

Note XX. 
Like the brave Roman, to thy native soil, — P. 136. 1. 10. 
T. Quintus Cincinnatus, a Roman senator, who being 
called from the plough, was made dictator of Rome, and 
having atchieved several glorious actions, laid down his 
high office. Livy the historian thus speaks of his exploits : 
* T. Quinctius, semel acie victor binis castris hostium, no- 
vem oppidis vi captis, Praeneste in deditionem accepto Ro- 
mam revertit ; triumphansque signum, Praeneste devec- 
tum, Jovis imperatoris in capitolium tulit. Dedicatum est 
inter cellam Jovis ac Minervae; tabulaque sub eofixamo- 
numentum serum gestarum, his ferme incisa Uteris fuit : Ju- 
piter atque divi omnes hue dederunt, ut T, Quinctius dicta- 
tor oppida novem caperet. Die vicessimo, quam creatus 
erat dictatura se abdicavit."— Livy, L. vi. c. xxix. 

Note XXI. 

The bird of Jove thy forky fasces bore, 

And hurVd defiance on the hostile shore, — P. 137. I. 5, 0. 

The armorial ensign of the United States of America is 
an eagle with expanded wings and open beak, in a protect- 
ing or defensive posture ; on his breast is borne the escut- 
cheon of the republic ; in the dexter talon an olive branch, 
to which the eagle's head inclines; in the sinister is held a 
fasces, or bundle of arrows, the motto, e pluribus unum. It 
may be recollected, that, in Roman antiquity, the fasces 
were axes tied up together with rods or staves, and carried 
before the Roman magistrates as a badge of their office and 
authority. According to Florus, the use of the fasces was 



182 NOTES^ 

introduced by the elder Tarquin, the fifth king of Rome, 
and were then the designating mark of sovereign power. 

Note XXII. 
On seeing a Fairy Ring. — P. 143. 
The phenomena of fairy circles, or rings, which may be 
_ observed in old pastures, have been, by some, attributed to 
lightning. The popular belief in fairies, (or the good peo- 
ple, as they are respectfully termed in Ireland,) and that 
those circles are traced by them in their dances, is the idea 
assumed in this poem. The belief in the existence of fai- 
ries is very prevalent, not only in the remote parts of Ire- 
land, but even in the counties adjoining the metropolis. 

" The Irish, whose pregnant fancy teemed with inven- 
tion, had their traditional tales of fairies embellished with 
all the extravagance of curious fiction. Their mythology, 
like that of the Greeks and Romans, peopled every place 
witlv visionary inhabitants ; and every mountain, river, and 
wood, had its Dryad es, Naiads, and Hamadryads. The 
principal of those airy beings are comprised in the follow* 
ing Irish couplet : 

* s Meiv Seiv agus Dheerdhcra, 
<c Agus Ciena na Craigge leagk." 

" Meib Saib and Dherdhera, 
" And Ciena of the holy Cliff." 

" Ciena was the queen of the visionary people of th^ 
mountain of Craigleagh, in the county of Clare, and is held 
at this day in high veneration ; but the paramount fairy 
queen of Ireland was Maidib, that is, mortifying the d 9 
Maib, pronounced Meiv, by a common metathesis of v far .h . 
in Irish. 



NOTES. 183 

e < From this country the appellation was conveyed to Scot- 
land, and from thence to the north of England. It was 
here that Shakspeave, who abounds with northern provin- 
cial terms, found our Meib, espoused her to Oberon, and 
adopted her by the name of xMab, as his " Fairy Queen." 
No less a favourite with Carolan than Shakspeare, he too 
has paid the tribute of song, and our 



Fancy's sweetest child, 



Warbling his native woodnotes wild, 

has done duteous homage to his queen, in one of his sweet- 
est melodies, viz. * Carolan's Fairy Queen," or Ban Re an 
m A Shivree." — Syllabus of Commemoration of Carolan, pp. 
12—14. Dublin, 1809. 

The philosophic reader, who may wish to have the phe- 
nomena of " fairy rings' 5 naturally and satisfactorily ac- 
counted for, will obtain this information by recurring to 
an essay read March 12, 1807, by Dr W. Hyde Wollaston, 
F.R.S., where it is shewn that these circles are produced 
from the rankness of the soil, caused by the spawn of fungi, 
mushrooms, and champignons. " The position of these 
mushrooms is solely situated at the exterior margin of the 
dark ring of grass, which led him [Dr W.] to conjecture 
that progressive increase from a central point was the pro- 
bable mbde-Of formation of the ring." And this hypothe- 
sis he fully proves, from repeated experiments which he 
has undertaken, the result of which he found to be, that 
" the soil, each successive year, becoming exhausted from 
the fungi it had supported, consequently every year the 
circle would enlarge, which circumstance he repeatedly 
found to be the case ; and, upon examination, found always 
a great, but variable increase of those circles, some from 



184? NOTES.- 

eight inches, and others so much as two feet in each year." 
The Doctor compares, Very ingeniously, in support of his 
hypothesis, " the form of the space of the white spawn to 
that of a wave proceeding- from the centre outwards, as its 
boundary on the inner side ascends obliquely toward the 
surface, while its exterior termination is nearly in a verti- 
cal position. Besides these mushrooms, fungi, and cham- 
pignons, there are other fungi that exhibit the same mode 
of extension, and produce the same effect upon the herb- 
age. The mushrooms make circles of the longest diameter, 
but those of the champignon are the most regular. — On 
Fairy Rings. By William Hyde Wollaston, M, D. Sec, R. S, 
From the Philosophical Transactions, London, Buhner, 
180T, 

Note XXIII. 

Thus pleased, as parts the satiate gtiest, 

We'll sink on Slumber s balmy breast. — P. 147. 1. 5, 6. 

. — " raro qui se vixisse beatum 

" Dicat, et exacto conteptus tempore vitae, 
" Cedat, uti conviva satur, reperire queamus .'" 

Hon. Sat. LI. S. I. 

t m Note XXIV. 

Onlhndoits scaffold Wallace fell.— P. 150. 1. 3. 
" This was the unworthy fate of a hero, (observes Hume 
the historian,) who, through a course of many years, had, 
with signal conduct, intrepidity, and perseverance, de- 
fended, against a public and oppressive enemy, the liber- 
ties of his country." — Hume's History of England, vol. 11^ 
p.25r. 

Smollett likewise makes most honourable mention of the 









NOTES. 185 

patriot warrior. " He was brought (says this celebrated 
historian) to his trial at Westminster-hall, where he was 
placed upon a high chair, and crowned with laurel, in de- 
rision. Being accused of treason, he pleaded, not guilty, 
and refused to own the jurisdiction of the court, affirming it 
was equally unjust and absurd to charge him with treason 
against a prince whose sovereignty he had never acknow- 
ledged ; and that, as he was a free-born native of an inde- 
pendent nation, he could not be deemed subject to the laws 
of England. The judges over-ruled his plea, and, upon the 
maxim of Edward's being the immediate sovereign of Scot- 
land, found him guilty of high treason. He was condemn- 
ed to die the death of a traitor, and the sentence being 
executed with all the circumstances of barbarity, his head 
and quarters were exposed in the chief cities of England. 
This was a mean triumph in Edward over a man of whose 
reputation he was envious 

Edward was a prince of great courage and abilities ; but 
there was nothing liberal in his disposition ; he had seen 
repeated proofs of this mail's invincible prowess and pa- 
triotism ; he had made repeated efforts to corrupt his inte- 
grity ; he must have admired his character when he sacri- 
ficed him to his jealousy and revenge* Edward condemned 
him as a traitor; Henry II. would have reve. ' him as an 
hero." — Smollett's History of England, vol. **.!. pp. 203 9 
204. 

The distinguished Dr Robertson, in his History of Scot- 
land, also bears honourable testimony to the worth and ta- 
lents of Sir William Wallace, 

He was " a hero to whom the fond admiration of his 
countrymen hath ascribed many fabulous acts of prowess, 
though his real valour, as well as integrity and wisdom, 
was such as needs not the heightenings of fiction. He al» 



186 NOTES. 

most singly ventured to take arms in defence of the king- 
dom, and his boldness revived the spirit of his countrymen." 
— History (/Scotland during the Reigns of Queen Mary and 
of King James VI., till his Accession to the Crown of Eng- 
land, By William Robertson, D. D. vol. I. page 7. 

Note XXV. 

Scotia, thy warrior chief deplore, 

The hero, Wallace, is no more ! — P. 150. 1. 7, 8. 

In Scotland, as well as in Ireland, it was usual for a 
death-song to be pronounced on the deceased chief, expres- 
sive of his worth, valour, and accomplishments. This is 
beautifully illustrated in the poem of Glenfinlas, or Lord 
Ronald's Coronach, which " is the lamentation for a de- 
ceased warrior, sung by the aged of the clan." — Minstrelsy 
ef the Scottish Border, vol. II. p. 407. 

In Historical Memoirs of Irish Bards, by the late learned 
and ingenious Joseph Cooper Walker, Esq., page 17, this 
prevailing custom is noticed : " When a prince or chief 
fell in battle, or died by the course of nature/ the stones of 
his fame were raised amidst the voices of bards, and the 
funeral-song chaunted by minstrels and attending bards, 
the relations and friends of the deceased mingling their sighs 
and tears." Indeed, this ceremony appears also, from the 
antiquarian Camden, and the celebrated naturalist and tou- 
rist, Mr Pennant, to have long prevailed in Ireland. Mr 
O'Connor, in his History of Ireland, page 123, Dublin ed. 
1812, says, " this inveterate custom entered so deeply into 
the manners of the nation, as to outlive, in some degree, all 
revolutions. The female chorus is continued to this day at 
•ur funerals in Ireland, and in the Highlands of Scotland." 
However, I am inclined to think that this death-song, Irish 
«ry, or uhilatus, is chiefly confined to the provinces of 
Mimster and Conuaught. 



NOTES, 1S7 



Note XXVI. 

Whose deeds, inscribed by deathless fame, 
Shall grateful Scotia long proclaim. — P. 150. 1. 15, 10* 
" A stone column, thirteen feet high, containing a suit- 
able inscription, has been erected on the top of Redding-rig 
Moor, to the memory of that illustrious Scottish patriot^ 
Sir William Wallace. The above-mentioned spot was se- 
lected for the site of the column on account of a prevalent 
tradition, importing, that Wallace, in consequence of a mis- 
understanding with the other commanders, withdrew, with 
his party, to that place ; from which, seated on a stone 
which still remains, he viewed the unfortunate battle of 
Falkirk." — Edinburgh Annual Register for 1810 , vol. III. 
part II. page 139. 

Note XXVII. 

These votive lines belong to you, 

Accept them from your country too I — P. 155. 1. 15, 16* 
To " the Humane Society" the above humble, but 
well-deserved- tribute of applause is intended* Truly, in- 
deed, and gloriously, are these valuable personages distin- 
guished by the well-deserved epithet of " humane," nobly 
instituted, as they are, for the godlike purposes of restoring 
persons apparently drowned to life. 

Note XX VIII. 

Let tranquil Peace sojourn meanwhile^ 
Her olive grace the sainted isle. — P, 157. 1. 15, 10. 
" In the western world (says the eloquent Gibbon) the 
olive was the companion as well as the symbol of peace. w 
— History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol* 
I. p. 75. 
It must be tolerably evident that Ireland is here meant 
5 



188 KOTES. 

by " the sainted isle." In O' Flaherty's Ogygia, vol. I. p. 
32, Ireland is styled " the Isle of Saints, as well by reason 
of its almost innumerable seminaries and colleges, as be- 
cause it furnished all parts of the world with saints and 
learned men for the propagation of Christianity. The tem- 
perature of the climate, and fertility of the soil, had deser- 
vedly conferred on it the name of the " Sacred Island," 
which was given to it many ages before the birth of Christ, 
by the Greeks ; for from IEP0 X 2, which means holy (sa- 
cred) Ierna, and Ierne, have been derived." 

O'Connor says " the vernacular names of Ireland were 
many ; some descriptive, as Fiodh-Inis, the Woody Isle ; 
Inisfail, the Isle of Destiny, from the famous Stone Lia- 
fail ; Inis-Ealga, the Noble Isle, &c." — O'Connor's Disser- 
tations on the History of Ireland, page 175. 

The poet Rufus Festus Avienus, in his book De Oris Ma- 
ritimis, speaking of Ireland, calls it the Sacred Island, 

" Ast liiac duobus in sacrem, sic insulam 
" Dixere prisci, solibus cursus rati est : 
u Haec inter undas multum cespitem jacit ; 
" Eamque late gens Hibernorum col it. 
° Propinqua rursus insula Albionum patet." 

See also O'Halloran's History of Ireland, vol. L p. 164. 
Dublin edit. 1803. 

Gibbon, too, the distinguished historian, speaks of" the 
missionaries of the Isle of Saints, who diffused the light of 
Christianity over North Britain." — Gibbon's Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire. Dublin edit. IT 87, vol. IV. p. 
264. 



Before I finally take leave of the reader, it is not un- 



NOTES. 189 

worthy of noticing how very little Ireland is known to my 
fellow-subjects of Great Britain. This is the more extra- 
ordinary, as it requires not more than three days to travel 
from London to Dublin. This, added to the great facility 
of travelling in Ireland, the number and excellence of every 
appointment in the various mail-carriages, stage-coaches, 
besides posting, and the remarkably cheap and commodi- 
ous conveyance presented by the canal passage-boats, &c 
must consequently increase our wonder. 

Aware in a certain degree, however, that the intercourse 
of the English with Ireland was very confined, yet I could 
not suppose that the want of information as to the internal 
state of Ireland was so great as I have found it to be, and 
can only account for it by the fabulous legends of the Lon- 
don journals, which are in the habit of reviling this much- 
calumniated country ; whose traducers, to use the words 
of Stanihurst the historian, in his Vindication of Ireland, 
M are evidently the partizans of falsehood, in opposition to 
the clearest truth ;" indeed, their mis-statements are so ma- 
liciously blundering, that they remind one of a reference 
of the celebrated Lord Clarendon, in his History of the 
Civil War, — " for Ireland, vide Rebellion /" 

It was with pain and astonishment I read the following 
passage in a liberal and valuable work, " Aikin's Annual 
Review," which is contained in a critique on Sir Richard 
Colt Hoare's " Journal of a Tour in Ireland," A. D. 1806 : 
'* From the want of books, and living information, we have 
been led to suppose the country rude, the inhabitants sa- 
vage, the paths dangerous, and hence have been, in a great 
measure, deterred from exploring them"— Aikin's Annual 
Review, vol. VI. p. 490. 

Has Ireland then indeed degenerated to a savage state 
from the proud prf-eminence she once possessed ! At a time, 
too, when the greater portion of Europe was sunk in igno- 



190 NOTES. 

ranee and barbarism, the sun of science and of literature 
even then shone on our isle > not confining its rays to this 
country alone, but diffusing them on the surrounding na- 
tions ? Hither students from England and the continent re- 
sorted; here, too, the renowned Alfred imbibed that wis- 
dom and piety for which he was designated great ; from 
Ireland he procured professors for Oxford. Ireland also 
gave professors to the cities of distant lands, to Paris, and 
to Pavia. 

" When Europe groaned under the servitude of Gothic 
ignorance, Ireland became the prime seat of learning to all 
Christendom, Hither the sciences, such as they were in 
those ages, fled for protection ; and here their followeri 
and professors were amply supported. For the converted 
Saxons the nation erected, in the west, the College of Mayo, 
to this day called Mayo of the Saxons ; and here it was 
that the princes Alfred and Oswald received their educa- 
tion. In the city of Ardmacha, it is affirmed that no few- 
er than seven thousand scholars studied, at the same time, 
within its university, although the kingdom, at that time, 
contained several other academies, equally celebrated, if 
not equally numerous.'* — O'Connor's History of Ireland, 
p. 202-3. 

The celebrated Doctor Samuel Johnson, in a letter to 
the historian I have here quoted, recognizes this proud 
epoch in Irish history : his words are, " the ages which 
deserve an exact enquiry, are those times (for such times 
there were) when Ireland was the school of the west, the 
quiet habitation of sanctity and literature." 

Ireland, for arts aud arms renowned, ever dear to the 
sons of science and of song; not unregarded by the sono- 
rous reed of Tasso, and sweetly attuned to the fairy lyre of 
Spenser! While proudly vindicating the wounded charac 
ter of my country, I shall remain purposely silent on the 






NOTES, 101 

merits of her native inhabitants, who have spoke, wrote, 
or fought in defence of the empire, and merely urge what 
has been said by strangers in her praise. I shall confine 
myself to four authorities, however distant in time they may 
have flourished, or however varying in profession or in lan- 
guage — Tacitus, Sir John Davis, Lord Coke, and Peter Lom- 
bard, Archbishop of Paris. The words of Tacitus are, — 
" Solum caelumque et ingenia cultus que hominum haud 
multum a Britannia differunt. Melius aditus portusque 
pe commercia et negociatores cogniti." — Julii Agricolce 
Vita, p. 579. Amstelodami, 1T01. 

Sir J. Davis, who was attorney-general, and speaker of 
the House of Commons in Ireland, says, in his " Historical 
Tracts," " the bodies and minds of the people [are] en« 
dued with extraordinary abilities of nature ;" and, in ano- 
ther place he says, " that no nation loves equal and impar- 
tial justice better than the Irish !" And Lord Coke, on the 
same subject, expresses himself thus : " There is no nation 
that are greater lovers of justice ; which virtue must neces- 
sarily be accompanied by many others." Peter Lombard, 
who was well known by the title of u The Master of the 
Sentences," the learned Archbishop of Paris, says, speaking 
of the Irish, " They are delighted with music and poetry ; 
are greatly inclined to a military life, and adapted for war 
in an equal degree with the bravest nations upon earth ; for 
they are, courageous, valiant, dexterous, and eminently qua- 
lified as well for the whole range of military science, as for 
the use and practice of all kinds of arms* They are very 
fond of the sciences, or liberal arts, and hold the learned in 
the greatest estimation. They are also, in general, men of 
acute and lively understandings, and, when opportunity of- 
fers, apply themselves willingly to studies, and prosecute 
them with diligence ; but they are more inclined to those 
kind of studies or sciences which demand subtlety of genius, 



192 notes; 

than to those that demand no mental exertion." — Peter 
Lombard, de Hibern. p. 112, edit. Lovan. This account 
of Ireland I beg the reader to observe was written seven 
hundred years ago. What, Ireland " a rude country," and 
her "natives savages I" I can most truly assure the learn- 
ed conductors of the work alluded to, that so far from being 
rude, it is a country abounding with beautiful and diversi- 
fied scenery, far, very far more picturesque than England ; 
not so well wooded as when the epithet Fidh-Inis, " the 
Woody Island,'' was bestowed upon it ; nor as it was in the 
days of Elizabeth, when Sir Walter Raleigh objected to it 
on that account ; nor so highly cultivated as Hampshire, 
yet it commands attention and admiration too, from its 
great, bold, and striking outlines, sublime and lofty moun- 
tains, overtopping, .undulating hills, and luxuriant vales; 
where the " ivy mantled tower," the ruined monastery, or 
the castle's mouldering pile, grand and maguificent even in 
decay; and those round towers, peculiar to Ireland, irre- 
sistibly arrest the traveller's enquiring eye, while his me^ 
lancholy admiration, elicited in unison with the scene, wan- 
ders back to the grandeur of the days that are past. So 
far remote, I must observe, are the natives from being " sa- 
vages," that the very humblest peasant or labourer will sa- 
lute you as you pass, and give you a valediction. 

" The paths/' so very far from being" dangerous,". are 
carefully kept in excellent repair ; indeed the very cross- 
roads, although inferior to the direct or great public roads, 
are superior to those in England. This, it is presumed, 
arises from the abundance and cheapness of convenient ma- 
terials, namely, flint-stone, granite, gravel, and limestone 
rock, these being very abundant throughout Ireland. The 
Irish inns, with some exceptions, are not inferior to those of 
England ; their charges very moderate, the civility great, 
the entertainment excellent, the wines genuine. So very 






NOTES. 193 

remote are the Irish from being " savages," I must say, that 
the very peasantry are an unoffending, hospitable, civil, 
and humane race of people ; even the most wretched indi- 
vidual amongst them never 

" Against the houseless stranger shuts the door." 

And still, 

H Though poor the peasant's hut, his feasts though small," 

yet will he, with heartfelt pleasure* divide his frugal meal 
and share his humble roof with the way-worn traveller. 
This is universal throughout Ireland. That the cottages of 
the Irish peasants are, in many places, poor and miserable, 
is not to be wondered at, when, on inquiry, you find that 
the lord of the soil is an ennobled absentee, who has never 
permitted his presence to cheer the face of that country 
from whence the supplies of his extravagance in the metro- 
polis of the empire are extracted, who most readily pockets 
the remittances, but who is solicitous never to be bored by 
even mention being made of his savage tenantry, and consi- 
ders the mere necessary signatures of renewal as an intoler- 
able effort of animal exertion ! 

In the summer of 1 80T I took a tour through a great 
extent in Ireland, in distance about five hundred Irish miles, 
(which are equal to 650 English,) and during an excursion 
of two. months, I was abroad early and late, yet never met 
writh any molestation whatever ; and, in subsequent jour- 
neys since, at all hours, by day and by night, I have travel- 
led without any impediment or stoppage whatever. The 
return to Dublin from the tour of 1807 lay chiefly by the 
sea shore, through parts of the western, southern, and east* 
N 



194? NOTES. 

ern coasts of Ireland. One summer evening, travelling in 
the county of Wicklow, I arrived somewhat late at an inn, 
•which was crowded with parties from Dublin, &c. to view 
the romantic and picturesque beauties of that county, the 
scene of the " Sweet Vale of Avoca, " The Meeting of the 
Waters," &c. This assemblage is ever usual in summer 
time, attracted by the beauteous scenery of Wicklow, at 
once wild, picturesque, aud romantic, and the vicinity of 
this county to the Irish metropolis. In consequence of an 
unusual pressure of guests, I was obliged to proceed onward 
in the dark, though late the hour, for some miles, and, ar- 
riving unseasonably at the next stage, where the inn hap- 
pened to be also equally crowded, was then informed that 
no bed was to be obtained ; the horses being accommoda- 
ted, however, I determined to sit up all night ; to this re- 
solve the proprietor of the inn would by no means agree* 
and a bed was politely relinquished to me. Such was the 
attention and hospitality with which an utter stranger was 
received. " The Athenians understand what is right, but 
the Lacedaemonians practise it." , 

While breaking a spear in the lists of my country, the 
hospitality of the Irish gentry must not be passed over ; in- 
deed, it was most kind, attentive, and endearing ; and, had 
we acceded to the various pressing invitations we received, 
we should have had little occasion certainly to have so- 
journed at any inn throughout this extended tour; and I ne- 
ver can think of the civilities I received but with the 
most grateful recollections. While engaged in this singu- 
larly interesting circuit, viewing the lofty mountains, the 
varied scenery of lull and vale, the broad and rapid rivers, 
the princely seats and magnificent demesnes, the luxuriant 
islands, lakes, and groves, 



NOTES. 195 

" So wond'rous wild, the whole might seem 
" The scenery of a fairy dream £* 

shores the most bold, and bays the most expansive and se- 
cure, with a hardy and a virtuous peasantry ; I could not 
but often (in the words of the distinguished bard of Caledo- 
nia) exclaim to myself exultingly, — 

*' This is my own, my native land!" 

We were much pleased with the becoming dress of the pea- 
santry of the county of Kerry ; and that of the lower class 
of female peasants of Killarney, we observed as being re- 
markably neat and graceful. But I was most forcibly 
struck with the beauty of the peasantry of the county of 
Wexford: The peasants, of each sex, are a comely race, 
possessing lively and expressive features, fair complexions, 
fine hair, and good persons. Their costume might grace an 
Arcadian landscape; both males and females wore beco- 
ming yellow straw hats, the remainder of their dress ap- 
propriate, if not elegant, while they were seen busily em- 
ployed at the sickle, where 

" Unbounded harvests hung the heavy head." 

I cannot conclude this hasty tribute to my country with- 
out noticing, with pleasure, that the love of science and the 
belles lettres is rapidly increasing in Ireland; annually se- 
veral thousand volumes, in the various modern languages of 
Europe, &c. are imported into Dublin, Cork, Belfast, &c. 
Do " savages" cultivate letters ? If common sense did not 
point out, we might quote Ovid, who says, in a well-known 
line, that science refines manners, not permitting them to be 
savage, ** emollit mores, necsinct essefcros" Indeed, where- 



196 NOTES. 

ever science is cultivated, we may deduce it as certainly as 
a corollary to any mathematical proposition, that there 
too will the fine arts and manufactures flourish ; for science 
may be considered as the centre, the arts are only the radii 
of the circle* 



POSTSCRIPT. 



Subsequent to these notes being written, I discovered, 
upon perusing Sir Richard Colt Hoare's Tour in Ireland, 
that, in the passage selected from the Annual Review, and 
commented on in these notes, that the words are those of 
Sir R. C. Hoare, and that the last line only,, marked in Ita- 
lics, belongs to the Reviewers; I was led into this mistake 
by not having at that time read the volume reviewed, the 
work of a gentleman and a scholar, who is liberal as he is 
learned ; and, further, I was deceived from the passage not 
being marked with inverted commas, which is usual when 
quotations are extracted. No doubt, there still may be many 
other faults, (although no pains has been spared to detect 
them,) which possibly have escaped the author's diligence 
and research; for indeed, what Horace has said of man- 
kind in general, may be applied to literary productions-* 

" Vitiis nemo sine nascitur : optimus Hie est, 

" Qui minimis urgetur." 

These remarks shall now finally close with Sir Richard 
C. Hoare's character of the peasantry of Ireland : — '* Nei- 
ther is the heart of the poorest cottier a stranger to these 
generous feelings [of hospitality ;] his jug of milk and plate 



198 POSTSCRIPT. 

of potatoes are charitably offered alike to the errand-boy 
and to the mendicant who appears before his door ; in short, v 
charity throughout the whole island supplies the want of 
poor law s."-— " Englishman ! do thou likewise." — Journal 
of a Tour in Ireland, A. D. 1806. By Sir Richard Colt 
Hoare, Bart. F.R.S. F.A.S. Lond. 1807, pp. 329, 330. 



THE END. 



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